Special to AllAboutAlpha.com by: Alexander Ineichen, CFA, CAIA

This month, we bring you the second act with Winnie-the -Bear, George Jones and Ben Put discussing recent developments in the financial world.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a bear named Winnie-the-Bear who lived in the Trillion Acre Wood. On some level, he was a silly old bear. Nevertheless, he was wondering what the fuss about hedge funds was all about. He invited his two best friends, George Jones, the famous hedge fund manager, and Ben Put, the famous academic and central banker since the 1980s, to the Trillion Acre Wood for a further chat on hedge funds.

Winnie-the-Bear: Thanks for joining me again. With all the fuss about hedge funds they clearly are going to face tough regulatory headwinds going forward, no? I find the topic of hedge fund regulation difficult to grasp, actually quite weird, to be honest. I wonder; if ‘pro’ is the opposite of ‘con’ what is the opposite of ‘progress’?

George Jones: Yes, hedge fund regulation is weird. Regulators regulate banks. Banks screw up. There’s a run on the banks. Banks cut credit lines to hedge funds. Hedge funds pull the cash from the banks. System breaks. Politicians save the banks and then go on and blame hedge funds. If it weren’t so sad it would be comical.

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