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Funder Spotlight: Hedonova

Hedonova is a hedge fund that was established in 2020, and it specializes in alternative investments. The company has offices located in various parts of the world, making it accessible to investors from different regions. Alternative investments are unique investment opportunities that do not conform to the standard categories of investments such as stocks and bonds. Hedonova’s portfolio of alternative investments encompasses a diverse range of assets, including startups, real estate, fine art, wine, and cryptocurrencies.

The fund structure of Hedonova is based on a single fund structure that provides an excellent investment option for shareholders who wish to invest without the burden of managing the day-to-day distribution of their investments. This structure provides an added advantage to investors who have limited knowledge or experience in managing investments. Hedonova’s focus on alternative investments means that its portfolio diversifies risk, offering investors an excellent hedge against the volatility of conventional investment categories. The unique combination of alternative investment and the single fund structure makes Hedonova an attractive investment option for savvy investors looking for high-yield, low-risk investments.

Website: https://www.hedonova.io/
Founded: 2019
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA USA

About Hedonova

At Hedonova, our mission is to provide high-yield, low-risk investment opportunities to investors who are looking to diversify their portfolios beyond traditional investment categories. We specialize in alternative investments, which are unique and offer an excellent hedge against the volatility of conventional investment categories.

We believe that by offering a diverse range of alternative investments, we can create a portfolio that will protect investors from market fluctuations and generate consistent returns over the long term. Our single fund structure is designed to make investing in alternative assets accessible and hassle-free for all types of investors. We are committed to building long-lasting relationships with our investors based on trust, transparency, and open communication.

We believe that by fostering a strong partnership with our clients, we can better understand their unique needs and investment goals, and provide tailored investment solutions that meet their expectations. Our team of seasoned professionals has extensive experience in alternative investments and a deep understanding of market dynamics. We are dedicated to utilizing our expertise to identify and pursue investment opportunities that deliver optimal returns while minimizing risk.

Our ultimate goal at Hedonova is to generate consistent and sustainable returns for our investors over the long term. We believe that by combining our expertise, ethical values, and active portfolio management, we can provide our clients with a superior investment experience that empowers them to achieve their financial goals.

Points of Differentiation:

Alternative Investment Expertise: Hedonova specializes in alternative investments, which are unique investment opportunities that offer high returns and diversify risk. Our portfolio includes a range of assets, such as startups, real estate, fine art, wine, and cryptocurrencies, to provide our investors with a diverse range of investment opportunities.

Global Accessibility: Hedonova has offices located in various parts of the world, making it accessible to investors from different regions. We believe that by having a global presence, we can offer unique investment opportunities that are not available in local markets.

Single Fund Structure: Our single fund structure provides an excellent investment option for shareholders who wish to invest without the burden of managing the day-to-day distribution of their investments. This structure provides an added advantage to investors who have limited knowledge or experience in managing investments.

High-Yield, Low-Risk Investments: At Hedonova, we are committed to providing our investors with high-yield, low-risk investment opportunities. Our focus on alternative investments means that our portfolio diversifies risk, offering investors an excellent hedge against the volatility of conventional investment categories.

Active Portfolio Management: Hedonova’s experienced investment team actively manages our portfolio of alternative investments, staying up to date with market trends and seeking out new opportunities to optimize returns for our investors. This approach ensures that our portfolio is well-positioned to adapt to changing market conditions.

Ethical Investing: At Hedonova, we believe in investing ethically and sustainably. We carefully evaluate each investment opportunity to ensure that it aligns with our values and standards. By investing in socially responsible assets, we aim to generate returns that not only benefit our investors but also contribute to the betterment of society and the environment.

 Key Stakeholders

 Suman Bannerjee Chief Investment Officer 

Suman Bannerjee is a highly accomplished Chief Investment Officer (CIO) with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. He currently serves as the CIO at Hedonova, a global alternative investment management firm, where he is responsible for managing the firm’s investment strategies and ensuring the performance of its portfolios. Before joining Hedonova, Suman held senior roles at several leading financial institutions, including Millennium and Société Générale Equipment Finance (SGEF). At Millennium, he served as the Global Portfolio Manager. In this role, he was responsible for designing and implementing investment strategies, managing the firm’s risk exposures, and generating returns for investors. At SGEF, he was the Vice President of Equipment Finance and Supply Chain Finance, where he oversaw the origination, underwriting, and management of equipment and supply chain finance transactions, and was responsible for ensuring the profitability and growth of the business. Suman earned his Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, where he was a recipient of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) charter holder and a member of the CAIA Association, which is the leading professional association for alternative investment professionals. Throughout his career, Suman has demonstrated deep expertise in investments, risk management, and portfolio management. He is highly regarded for his analytical skills, strategic thinking, and ability to identify and execute profitable investment opportunities. He has a track record of generating significant returns and has a reputation for being a trusted advisor to his clients.

Jurisdictions and Sectors Served

At Hedonova, we pride ourselves on being a truly global organization with a presence in some of the world’s most prominent financial centers. We have strategically chosen our office locations in Los Angeles, Delaware, Tallinn, and Paris to ensure that we can offer our investors unique investment opportunities that are not available in local markets.

Our team members are spread across every continent, and we believe that diversity is our strength. They come from various backgrounds and bring different perspectives, experiences, and expertise to the table. We believe that this diversity enables us to evaluate investment opportunities from multiple angles and make informed decisions that are in the best interest of our clients.

At Hedonova, we are open to everyone. We believe that everyone should have access to alternative investment opportunities, regardless of their location, background, or level of investment expertise. Our mission is to make investing in alternative assets accessible, hassle-free, and rewarding for all types of investors. Whether you are a seasoned investor or just starting, we are here to help you achieve your investment goals. We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity, respect, and open communication.

We believe that by listening to our client’s feedback, we can continuously improve our services and better serve their unique needs. We are dedicated to building strong, long-lasting relationships with our clients based on trust, transparency, and mutual respect.

Key Metrics

Our investment strategy has generated a return of 32% in 2022, which significantly outperformed the market average for conventional investment categories such as stocks and bonds. This metric reflects our ability to identify and invest in alternative assets that deliver high returns while minimizing risk.

We believe that this level of performance is a testament to our active portfolio management, ethical investing principles, and commitment to delivering exceptional value to our clients.

Quotes from Key Stakeholders

“If you want to be wealthy, spend your time earning, learning, or relaxing. Outsource or ignore everything else.”

“Investing because you are scared to miss out on gains will leave you with larger losses.”

“Wealth is created by leverage. Leverage has different forms. Labor leverage is when you use someone else’s time, capital leverage is when you use someone else’s money. In the last two decades, code was leverage used to automate service delivery to billions. Now there’s another form of leverage – audience.

“Code, content, and capital is the new land, labor, and capital.”

“The best way to think about asset allocation between stocks and alternatives is timing. It’s best to invest in stocks when markets are at historical lows, and it’s best to invest in alternatives when inflation is high. “

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Case Developments Commercial

CAT Rules in Favour of BT in Harbour-Funded Claim Valued at £1.3bn

By Harry Moran |

As LFJ reported yesterday, funders and law firms alike are looking to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) as one of the most influential factors for the future of the UK litigation market in 2025 and beyond. A judgment released by the CAT yesterday that found in favour of Britain’s largest telecommunications business may provide a warning to industry leaders of the uncertainty around funding these high value collective proceedings.

An article in The Global Legal Post provides an overview of the judgment handed down by the CAT in Justin Le Patourel v BT Group PLC, as the Tribunal dismissed the claim against the telecoms company following the trial in March of this year. The opt-out claim valued at around £1.3 billion, was first brought before the Tribunal in 2021 and sought compensation for BT customers who had allegedly been overcharged for landline services from October 2015.

In the executive summary of the judgment, the CAT found “that just because a price is excessive does not mean that it was also unfair”, with the Tribunal concluding that “there was no abuse of dominant position” by BT.

The proceedings which were led by class representative Justin Le Patourel, founder of Collective Action on Land Lines (CALL), were financed with Harbour Litigation Funding. When the application for a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) was granted in 2021, Harbour highlighted the claim as having originally been worth up to £600 million with the potential for customers to receive up to £500 if the case had been successful.

In a statement, Le Patourel said that he was “disappointed that it [the CAT] did not agree that these prices were unfair”, but said that they would now consider “whether the next step will be an appeal to the Court of Appeal to challenge this verdict”. The claimants have been represented by Mishcon de Reya in the case.

Commenting on the impact of the judgment, Tim West, disputes partner at Ashurst, said that it could have a “dampening effect, at least in the short term, on the availability of capital to fund the more novel or unusual claims in the CAT moving forward”. Similarly, Mohsin Patel, director and co-founder of Factor Risk Management, described the outcome as “a bitter pill to swallow” for both the claimants and for the law firm and funder who backed the case.

The CAT’s full judgment and executive summary can be accessed on the Tribunal’s website.

Commercial Fundraising

Sandfield Capital Secures £600m Facility to Expand Funding Operations

By Harry Moran |

Sandfield Capital, a Liverpool-based litigation funder, has reached an agreement for a £600 million facility with Perspective Investments. The investment, which is conditional on the identification of suitable claims that can be funded, has been secured to allow Sandfield Capital to strategically expand its operations and the number of claims it can fund. 

An article in Insider Media covers the the fourth capital raise in the last 12 months for Sandfield Capital, with LFJ having previously covered the most recent £10.5 million funding facility that was secured last month. Since its founding in 2020, Sandfield Capital has already expanded from its original office in Liverpool with a footprint established in London as well. 

Steven D'Ambrosio, chief executive of Sandfield Capital, celebrated the announced by saying:  “This new facility presents significant opportunities for Sandfield and is testament to our business model. Key to our strategy to deploy the facility is expanding our legal panel. There's no shortage of quality law firms specialising in this area and we are keen to develop further strong and symbiotic relationships. Perspective Investments see considerable opportunities and bring a wealth of experience in institutional investment with a strong track record.”

Arno Kitts, founder and chief investment officer of Perspective Investments, also provided the following statement:  “Sandfield Capital's business model includes a bespoke lending platform with the ability to integrate seamlessly with law firms' systems to ensure compliance with regulatory and underwriting standards.  This technology enables claims to be processed rapidly whilst all loans are fully insured so that if a claim is unsuccessful, the individual claimant has nothing to pay. This is an excellent investment proposition for Perspective Investments and we are looking forward to working with the management team who have a track record of continuously evolving the business to meet growing client needs.”

Announcements Case Developments Commercial

Australian Google Ad Tech Class Action Commenced on Behalf of Publishers

By Harry Moran |

A class action was filed on 16 December 2024 on behalf of QNews Pty Ltd and Sydney Times Media Pty Ltd against Google LLC, Google Pte Ltd and Google Australia Pty Ltd (Google). 

The class action has been commenced to recover compensation for Australian-domiciled website and app publishers who have suffered financial losses as a result of Google’s misuse of market power in the advertising technology sector. The alleged loss is that publishers would have had significantly higher revenues from selling advertising space, and would have kept greater profits, if not for Google’s misuse of market power. 

The class action is being prosecuted by Piper Alderman with funding from Woodsford, which means affected publishers will not pay costs to participate in this class action, nor will they have any financial risk in relation to Google’s costs. 

Anyone, or any business, who has owned a website or app and sold advertising space using Google’s ad tech tools can join the action as a group member by registering their details at www.googleadtechaction.com.au. Participation in the action as a group member will be confidential so Google will not become aware of the identity of group members. 

The class action is on behalf of all publishers who had websites or apps and sold advertising space using Google’s platforms targeted at Australian consumers, including: 

  1. Google Ad Manager (GAM);
  2. Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP);
  3. Google Ad Exchange (AdX); and
  4. Google AdSense or AdMob. 

for the period 16 December 2018 to 16 December 2024. 

Google’s conduct 

Google’s conduct in the ad tech market is under scrutiny in various jurisdictions around the world. In June 2021, the French competition authority concluded that Google had abused its dominant position in the ad tech market. Google did not contest the decision, accepted a fine of €220m and agreed to change its conduct. The UK Competition and Markets Authority, the European Commission, the US Department of Justice and the Canadian Competition Bureau have also commenced investigations into, or legal proceedings regarding, Google’s conduct in ad tech. There are also class actions being prosecuted against Google for its practices in the ad tech market in the UK, EU and Canada. 

In Australia, Google’s substantial market power and conduct has been the subject of regulatory investigation and scrutiny by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) which released its report in August 2021. The ACCC found that “Google is the largest supplier of ad tech services across the entire ad tech supply chain: no other provider has the scale or reach across the ad tech supply chain that Google does.” It concluded that “Google’s vertical integration and dominance across the ad tech supply chain, and in related services, have allowed it to engage in leveraging and self-preferencing conduct, which has likely interfered with the competitive process". 

Quotes 

Greg Whyte, a partner at Piper Alderman, said: 

“This class action is of major importance to publishers, who have suffered as a result of Google’s practices in the ad tech monopoly that it has secured. As is the case in several other 2. jurisdictions around the world, Google will be required to respond to and defend its monopolistic practices which significantly affect competition in the Australian publishing market”. 

Charlie Morris, Chief Investment Officer at Woodsford said: “This class action follows numerous other class actions against Google in other jurisdictions regarding its infringement of competition laws in relation to AdTech. This action aims to hold Google to account for its misuse of market power and compensate website and app publishers for the consequences of Google’s misconduct. Working closely with economists, we have determined that Australian website and app publishers have been earning significantly less revenue and profits from advertising than they should have. We aim to right this wrong.” 

Class Action representation 

The team prosecuting the ad tech class action comprises: 

  • Law firm: Piper Alderman
  • Funder: Woodsford
  • Counsel team: Nicholas de Young KC, Simon Snow and Nicholas Walter