Hospital for Special Surgery, Big Apple Circus Benefit Returns December 7th

Dan Zwirn is a long time supporter of the Hospital for Special Surgery and their commitment to the treatment and rehabilitation of children.  On December 7th, they will be hosting the Seventh Annual Hospital for Special Surgery Big Apple Circus Benefit, where Zwirn has previously served event Co-Chair.  The Hospital for Special Surgery strives to provide the highest quality patient care, while advancing the science of orthopedic surgery, rheumatology, through research and education. This year his wife, Monica Keany, will be Co-Chairing, with both Dan Zwirn and Monica Keany acting as sponsors of this year's event. Keany is also a current member Hospital for Special Surgery’s Board of Trustees.

The Big Apple Circus Benefit is a non-profit performance that will support pediatric care and research at Hospital for Special Surgery.  The funds raised by the event will go toward three main programs of the hospital:  Pediatric Orthopedic Clinics, Alfred and Norma Lerner Children’s Pavilion, and The CHArm Center.  Popular for families of all ages, kids enjoy a real live circus performance with the added benefits of a more intimate venue compared to larger circus companies.  Pre-show entertainment at Lincoln Center, Damrosch Park, will provide face painting, juggling, stilt walkers, and more.

Dan Zwirn Quoted in Financial Times Article

The Financial Times' Tracy Alloway has published a new article titled, "Markets: The debt penalty" that discusses the shrinking of Wall Street bond-trading desks as banks hold more capital. Due to the financial crisis, big banks have reduced their business in dealing with corporate bonds, writes Alloway, as the amount of bond risk the banks hold is lessened.

Later, Alloway discusses exchange traded funds (ETFs) and their expansion to track corporate debt. In May, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that the US central bank might phase down the emergency bond-buying program it launched during the financial crisis. When this occurred, market interest rates began to rise:

“When that happened, volume went to zero,” says Dan Zwirn, managing partner of Arena Investors, a hedge fund focused on special-situation lending to companies."

Alloway went on to discuss the lack of liquidity in the secondary bond market. While some officials believe that an increase of liquidity in the market would help if the corporate bond bubble burst. But Dan Zwirn said, "As soon as the dealer gets out of balance to a point where he can be accused of prop trading, he says I’m not doing it."

Click here to read the full article (registration required).



Dan Zwirn is Managing Partner of Arena Investors, and is married to Monica Keany.

Brookings: Do Americans Believe Capitalism & Government Are Working?

The Brookings Institute recently published findings from the Public Religion Research Institute and Governance Studies at Brookings regarding whether Americans think capitalism and government are working.

The 2013 Economic Values Survey explored Americans’ views on capitalism, government, economic policy, and financial well-being. 

Concerns:

• 26% felt the lack of jobs was most the important economic issue
• The budget deficit was the second concern (17%)
• 18% cited rising health care costs
• Education as the most important issue: 9%

Despite these statistics, 54% believe that capitalism is working at least somewhat well. Government on the other hand prompts over 60% of Americans to agree that government should do more to reduce the gap between rich and poor, and that it is the responsibility of government to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. A majority (54%) believes that hard work and determination are no guarantee of success, while a majority (52%) also believes their generation is better off financially than the next generation will be.

From: The Brookings Institution

The findings also showed that despite polarization, "approximately 8-in-10 Americans agree that promoting freedom and liberty, encouraging people to live more responsible lives, and promoting equality and fairness are important guiding values. More than two-thirds cite promoting a public safety net as an important guide."

Click here to download the survey report


Dan Zwirn has recently joined the Brookings Institution Budget and Finance Committee. He has also served as a Trustee.

The Allen-Stevenson School Exceeds Annual Fund Goal

The Allen-Stevenson School is an all-boys elementary school in New York City. Believing in a vigorous curriculum the school employs a mix of academics, athletics and the arts to wholly educate a student and prepare him for the future. The school offers eight sports, seven physical education teachers and boasts 250 student athletes. Dance is also offered, and with 14 instructors, there are over 220 instrumental students.

The school is kindergarten through 9th grade and was founded in 1883 as The Allen School by Francis Bellows Allen. With a staff of 142 and 414 students in 2012-2013, the school prides itself on being very conscious of technology, possessing approximately .8 computers for every student in every classroom.

The school relies on donations to help cover 10% of its operating budget. Dan Zwirn and Monica Keany have contributed to this cause, and in the period of 7/1/2012-6/30/2013, the school raised over 2.5 million to its Annual Fund, exceeding its goal by over $60,000.

Dan Zwirn Participates on Panel at Bloomberg Hedge Funds Summit

The Bloomberg Hedge Funds Summit opened last week in New York City with a panel discussion titled "Hedge Funds Hit the Mainstream." The panel featured Dan Zwirn, a managing member of Arena Investors, Tim Garry, chief risk officer at Passport Capital, Averell Mortimer, founder and chief executive officer of Arden Asset Management, Girish Reddy, founder of Prisma Capital Partners, and Charles Stucke, chief investment officer at Guggenheim Investment Advisors. Interviewed by Pimm Fox of Bloomberg Radio and Questioner in Chief Jason Kelly of Bloomberg Link, the panel discussed the outlook of the hedge fund industry. The video of the discussion is below.

Ben Bernanke Says the Stimulus Will Continue

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before congress on Wednesday that the stimulus program needed to continue, saying that ending it too early would endanger the economic recovery.

"A premature tightening of monetary policy could lead interest rates to rise temporarily but would also carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery and causing inflation to fall further.”

Bernanke credited monetary policy for keeping inflation falling further below the Federal Reserve's 2% longer-run objective.

The central bank is buying $45 billion in Treasury bonds and $40 billion in mortgage-backed debt monthly to keep borrowing costs low and to encourage investment, hiring and economic growth.

Bernanke in some ways blamed lawmakers for dragging growth telling them "fiscal policy at the federal level has become significantly more restrictive.

“In particular, the expiration of the payroll tax cut, the enactment of tax increases, the effects of the budget caps on discretionary spending, the onset of sequestration, and the declines in defense spending for overseas military operations are expected, collectively, to exert a substantial drag on the economy this year.”

Bernanke's quantitative easing program of $85 billion a month will not be cut short in the near future. He denied that the stimulus was causing a new bubble (2008). He leveled the most concern towards long-term unemployment. In April, there were 4.4 million long-term unemployed individuals. Long-term unemployment refers to those jobless for more than 27 weeks. "We are seeing evidence that employers are reluctant to look at people if they have been out of work for a long time." Bernanke did add, however, that he did not think that was an "irreversible problem."

North Mill Equipment Finance Closes $50 Million Loan Facility With Wells Fargo

North Mill Equipment Finance announced on Wednesday that they had closed a $50 million loan facility with Wells Fargo Capital Finance.

The facility will allow North Mill to expand its business throughout the US. North Mill originates small-ticket equipment leases and loans through vendors, dealers and brokers. North Mill was born out of Colford Capital's acquisition of Equilease Financial Services in November of last year.

The Senior VP of Wells Fargo Capital Finance, Stewart Hayes said in a press release, "We are pleased to have completed such important financing for North Mill Equipment Finance. The new loan facility for North Mill will support the senior capital they need to fund loans and leases to their customer base. We are proud to have been able to work with a leading independent specialty finance company like North Mill and look forward to supporting their plans for successful business growth."

President of North Mill, Gary Silverhardt, views the loan facility as a chance to originate and fund a number of leases in the target markets of transportation, materials handling and construction.

As a third party servicer, North Mill has the capacity to handle thousands of accounts for multiple parties. In the last 11 years, they have purchased over 30 lease and loan portfolios, totally over $1 billion in asset value.

Dan Zwirn, is a Co-owner of ALDA Capital, which owns a minority stake in Colford.

Click here for the full press release.