“When in Rome ...” could be the motto of Beryl Consulting Group LLC, except that the city could be changed to Beijing, Moscow, Rio de Janiero, Riyadh, Bucharest or any one of a number of non-English-speaking cities where hedge fund managers may invest or hedge fund investors may be based.
Beryl, a specialist hedge fund consultant, is based in Jersey City, N.J., but the hedge funds it evaluates on behalf of an increasingly international clientele are invested all over the world, said Vidak Radonjic, managing partner and founder.
So the firm has begun to translate its Internet-based information about the firm and the funds it tracks into multiple languages, starting with Mandarin and Russian, to be followed by Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Historically, “the world of hedge funds has always been Anglo-centric,” Mr. Radonjic said, but he also noted that emerging market countries offer compelling investment opportunities for hedge fund managers where English is not the business language of choice. “By approaching our audience in their own language, we ... broaden our appeal and increase our chances of finding uncorrelated investment vehicles,” Mr. Radonjic said. — Christine Williamson
