Do you know how hedge funds work?

Well you certainly would if you had been able to attend this year's Hugh Oldham Memorial Lecture at MGS on Monday. Old Mancunian Stanley Fink, known from his days at the Man Group rather affectionately as the Godfather of the hedge fund business, gave a highly challenging explanation of the contribution that hedge funds make to the financial markets and the economy.

With analogies including a visit to a horse racing meeting in Hong Kong, he explained the mathematical approach to movements in prices which is adopted by hedge fund traders. He also made clear that the over-simplification of these instruments in the press does little to explain the range of intellectual challenges they pose. His views on regulation are clear: already recent rule-changes have the Swiss authorities rubbing their hands as many firms move from London to Geneva.

Stanley Fink and his wife Barbara are also well known as philanthropists, and he explained the reasons behind their emphasis on educational, health and poverty-reducing charities. If you are lucky enough to make or have money, he said, it's your duty to send the elevator down to bring up as many more deserving people as you can.

The Hugh Oldham lecture follows an afternoon of seminars attended by Sixth Formers from a wide range of Manchester schools. We were fortunate to have a sparkling set of seminar presenters on Monday, many of them also Old Mancunians.

If you would be interested in attending future Hugh Oldham lectures, contact us in the Development Office at MGS to be added to our mailing list.