Hedge fund managers are taking their time in registering with the SEC.
With the practical registration deadline three months away, just more than half of the 50 largest hedge funds have yet to file Form ADV, according to a search by Pensions & Investments of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Investment Advisor Public Disclosure website.
Among the unregistered are some the hedge fund world's largest players, including GLG Partners LP, London; Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, New York; Citadel Investment Group Inc., Chicago; and Vega Asset Management (USA) LLC, New York.
Vega will be registering in the fall, said Jennifer Lowney, a spokeswoman. A spokeswoman for Och-Ziff, who did not identify herself, said the firm never talks to the press. Neither Scott Rafferty, managing director-investor relations at Citadel, nor a spokeswoman for GLG Partners, who asked not to be identified, responded to requests for comment.
All of these large firms must register under new regulations that require all hedge fund managers with more than 14 U.S. clients and $30 million under management to file ADVs and other disclosure documents and to meet specific compliance and communication requirements by Feb. 1. The only hedge funds exempt from registration are those with a minimum two-year lockup period. Sources said that despite a lot of talk, they expect few if any hedge fund managers to increase the length of their lockups to avoid registration.
Preliminary paperwork must be filed 45 days before the Feb. 1 deadline, or Dec. 15, and attorney Lindi L. Beaudreault said hedge fund managers would be well-advised to file their paperwork by Dec. 1 because of holiday office closures at the SEC later in the month. Ms. Beaudreault is a partner at the Washington-based law firm of LeClair Ryan.