Lights! Cameras! Hedge Funds!

Shiver me timbers! Pirate Capital has walked the plank into the brave new world of hedge fund video. Web-based Hedge Connection and Hedge Video have announced that the Norwalk, Conn.-based HF has become their first customer for their investor relations video (Fund IRV). The 15-minute production, designed as a way of introducing hedge funds (as well as private equity and venture capital firms) is just enough time for the firm to describe its investment strategy and philosophy in the spoken words of its managers, as they get up close and personal with potential investors. “Our video communicates the more personalized aspects of fund management to a degree we couldn’t achieve through traditional presentations alone,” said Andrew Stotland, Pirate’s senior director of sales and marketing. Those traditional presentations have served them quite well. Pirate launched in 2002 with just over $2 million AUM; today it is closing in on $2 billion.