Raising capital for a startup fund is about who you know ... and in many cases, who your parents are.

Meet the Global Center for Investment Fund Studies

Successful hedge funds share several key attributes: strong, consistent performance, a management team with impressive professional and academic backgrounds, and a compelling fund strategy.  However, the most predictive factor for a startup fund's success is whether or not it has a sufficient critical mass of initial capital at launch.  This initial capital usually comes from friends, family, professional relationships that meet the fund’s investment qualifications, or from a major seeder.

This article provides an overview of CFTC and SEC regulation of cryptocurrency hedge funds for hedge fund managers investing in various strategies involving Bitcoin and alternative cryptocurrencies.

Our law firm focuses on advising hedge fund managers throughout the world in starting and operating US and offshore hedge funds. During the past several months, we have received more inquiries for starting cryptocurrency hedge funds (including Bitcoin Funds and coin alternative funds) than for all other hedge fund strategies combined.

Operating a hedge fund entails significant legal exposure, with substantial liability for improper disclosure. Even inadvertent mistakes can lead to substantial personal liability. The SEC, the CFTC, the NFA and state securities regulators have developed complex regulatory frameworks with which a fund sponsor must comply to avoid liability.

New York is the world’s most popular jurisdiction for starting a hedge fund, as well as one of the top states for startup private equity funds, real estate funds and other alternative investment funds.  Fund managers starting a hedge fund in New York avail themselves of a well-paved regulatory structure that is benefited by regulatory bodies with decades of experience with hedge funds and other investment funds.

The process for starting a hedge fund involves much more than a hedge fund attorney drafting the disclosure documents and preparing regulatory filings.  Drafting the documents is only one component of a comprehensive fund formation process.  A common mistake we see is hedge funds that are prepared using a form-driven approach, which results in investment fund terms and structure that are based on a generic structure, or often the wrong structure entirely.  A template-based approach results in fund terms and structure that are not in line with the specific fund's needs, market position and regulatory structure.

Dodd-Frank exempts from registration two types of advisers: (i) advisers to qualifying venture capital funds; and (ii) advisers solely to private funds (including hedge funds and private equity funds) and having less than $150 million of assets under management.  These two categories of investors are known as exempt reporting advisers.   Certain exempt reporting advisers are required to file exempt reporting adviser registrations, as will be discussed below.

Since domestic hedge funds are typically formed in the state of Delaware, managers must qualify the fund to do business in the manager's state of operation.  This is known as foreign qualifying.  Foreign qualifying simply means registering to do business in a state other than the state of incorporation.

The state of Texas has become one of the nation's hubs for the alternative fund industry and has produced a number of internationally recognized funds.  In recent years, Texas has made significant changes to its regulation of hedge fund managers, easing regulatory burdens on emerging hedge fund managers.  This article discusses key aspects of starting a hedge fund in Texas.

Section 475 of the tax code permits certain active traders to treat all investment transactions as generating ordinary income or loss.  Fund managers making a mark-to-market election recognize all gain or loss in open positions at year-end at the current fair market value as though they had been sold on December 31.  By recognizing all transactions as ordinary income a fund manager forfeits the ability to treat any assets as long-term capital gains.  Similarly, by marking portfolio assets to market at year-end, a manager loses the ability to defer income to later years.

As is the case with investment funds in general, real estate funds are trending toward greater levels of specialization.  Specialization may be by asset class, strategy or both.  Examples of asset class-specific firms include: office, retail, medical, industrial, agricultural, storage, hospitality, etc.  Real estate fund strategies can be loosely categorized into one or more of the following groups:

 After the initial seed raise, many issuers find it difficult to locate sufficient accredited investors to participate in the offering and turn to intermediaries. When using intermediaries, a company must (unless conducting a Rule 506(c) offering ensure that the intermediaries follow the rules requiring substantive pre-existing relationships with any prospective investors and avoid general advertising and solicitation.  Intermediary violations of securities rules and regulations can subject the issuer to the same liabilities as if the issuer had committed the violations.

One of the most important aspects of forming a real estate fund is to set the terms of the investment. When properly structured, real estate fund offering documents contain terms that adequately protect the fund sponsor and are attractive to investors.  Real estate fund terms are driven by the fund’s strategy, the market trends within the fund’s specific asset class and the particular needs and objectives of the fund. It is crucial that the investment fund legal counsel have an in-depth understanding of current investment market trends and how those trends affect the strategy the fund will employ.

Successful investment funds rely heavily on the intellect and expertise of key individuals, the loss of which can prove ruinous to hedge funds of all sizes. In November 2014, one of Europe’s largest money managers, BlueBay, had to close a $1.4 billion fund because of the departure of a single key fund manager.

A company seeking to raise capital through a private placement generally looks to either debt or equity. Each has its respective advantages and disadvantages, both to the company and to the investor. An equity investment presents the investors with the possibility of a larger upside participation, but does not does not require the repayment of capital. A debt investments provides a periodic, fixed return to investors, but can put the company at risk if the company cannot timely meet its debt repayment obligations. If your company wants the benefits of debt without the risk of default, consider a hybrid approach: preferred equity.

Regulation D contains safe harbors that provide exemptions from federal registration. These include exemptions under Rules 504, Rule 505, and Rule 506. Rule 506 is the most commonly relied upon exemption in private offerings (accounting for more than 90% of offerings, according to SEC statistics).