Kaye Scholer Represents Hechmer and Wheeler in the Launch of del Rey Global Investors, LLC
March 4, 2010
Los Angeles — Kaye Scholer LLP represented Paul J. Hechmer and Jerry Wheeler in the formation of investment firm del Rey Global Investors, LLC. del Rey initially will target primarily non-U.S. companies whose shares are deemed underpriced based upon certain financial measures.
The Kaye Scholer team included Partners G. Thomas Stromberg and Timothy Spangler, and Associate Elizabeth Sluder.
According to Stromberg, “The successful launch of del Rey is evidence of the vibrant California market, one reason that we just opened an office in the Silicon Valley.”
About Kaye Scholer
Kaye Scholer refers to the international law firm Kaye Scholer LLP and its affiliates, with offices in Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, New York, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Washington, DC, and West Palm Beach. Founded in New York City in 1917, Kaye Scholer represents public and private companies, governmental entities, financial institutions, and other organizations in matters around the world.
Contact
Peter Columbus
Kaye Scholer LLP
Tel: 212.836.8722
pcolumbus@kayescholer.com
The following release was issued through Bloomberg earlier this week.
© 2010 Bloomberg News
Hechmer Opens International Stock Firm After Nuveen Dispute
By: Christopher Condon
Published: March 2, 2010 3:16 PM
(Bloomberg) - Paul J. Hechmer, a top-ranked fund manager who left Nuveen Investments Inc. last year after a dispute with the company, is starting his own investment firm focused on stocks outside the U.S. Del Rey Global Investors LLC, based in Los Angeles, primarily will target non-U.S. companies whose shares are deemed underpriced based on financial measures such as sales and profit, the firm said today in a statement. The company said it received an undisclosed level of financial backing from Seattle- based Northern Lights Ventures LLC.
Hechmer, 44, oversaw Nuveen Tradewinds International Value fund for almost seven years until June. The fund averaged annual returns of 6.4 percent in the five years through his departure, beating 96 percent of similarly run rivals, according to data from Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. Hechmer disagreed with Nuveen's decision to start a half-dozen investment products at its Tradewinds unit, saying the firm was expanding too quickly.
Del Rey said it will open four products. One will invest outside the U.S. in companies with market values of more than $1 billion, while a similar fund will focus on U.S.-traded shares of large, non-U.S. companies. Two similar funds will add U.S.- based companies, the firm said. The products will be offered at first to institutional and high-net-worth investors, the company said. Mutual funds will be made available to retail investors "in due course," according to the statement.
Hechmer was a founding partner of Tradewinds Global Investors LLC in Los Angeles, whose parent, Nuveen, is owned by Chicago private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC. Tradewinds International Value, a $1.2 billion fund now managed by Peter Boardman and Alberto Jimenez Crespo, was dropped from Morningstar's highest rating after Hechmer's departure. The fund is now rated four stars.
Editors: Josh Friedman, Larry Edelman