So declares Nicola Meaden, doyenne of the U.K.'s hedge fund scene and the newly appointed head of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management in London.
If this assertion sounds a bit extreme - not to mention self-serving - the mere fact that Meaden can make it shows how far her industry has come. When Meaden founded Tass Research in 1990, hedge funds were the preserve of the ultrarich. Now, says the 41-year-old, institutional interest is at an all-time high, providing the perfect backdrop to her new challenge at Blackstone.
Meaden has two mandates: to build Blackstone’s international clientele and to develop its research operation, making sure that Blackstone’s investment team in New York is up to speed on European hedge fund managers and “all the new managers that are coming out of the woodwork,” she says.
Tass was sold in 1999 to U.S.-based Tremont Advisers, which in turn was sold to Oppenheimer Funds in October. “It seemed a good time to move on,” says Meaden.
With $2.5 billion in assets under management, Blackstone is one of the better-regarded firms in the fledgling fund-of-hedge-funds industry. Last year the firm won the ultimate trophy mandate when it was chosen to advise CalPERS on its $1 billion hedge fund program.
