Sard Verbinnen & Co is the top hedge fund PR firm by assets, according to a study by Hedge Fund Intelligence’s Absolute Return.
The publication said it was able to determine that 96 of the 268 billion-dollar hedge funds employ PR firms, noting some funds do not disclose or confirm outside PR counsel.
Sard Verbinnen’s 24 known hedge fund clients, including David Einhorn’s Greenlight and Steven Cohen’s SAC, cover assets totaling nearly $153.4B, ahead of Abernathy MacGregor Group’s 18 clients (Blue Ridge, Capstone; $103.9B), Kekst and Company’s 12 (Oak Hill, Paulson; $90.4B) and Prosek Partners, which is known to advise only two hedge funds – Bridgewater, Marathon – but with an asset total of $85.7B.
ASC Advisors (13 funds), Brunswick Group (4), Rubenstein Associates (3), Edelman (3), Walek & Associates (7) and RLM Finsbury (3) round out the top 10 by assets.
Absolute Return noted Phil Falcone’s struggling Harbinger Capital has “churned through” Finsbury, Rubenstein, APCO Worldwide, ASC and Sitrick, before re-engaging the merged RLM Finsbury.
AR noted it was met with “fierce resistance” from some PR firms when it first began its research, noting the Securities and Exchange Commission does not require hedge funds to disclose PR counsel the way they are required to reveal prime brokers, auditors and third party marketers.