Tag Archives: how to start a hedge fund

Hedge Fund Domain Names

Picking a domain name for your hedge fund website

Start up hedge fund managers always have the difficult task of thinking up a new, good names for their management company and hedge fund (see Naming Your Hedge Fund).  This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the desired name may not be available to use in the state which the management company resides (or with regard to the fund, in Delaware).  An added difficulty is thinking of a name that also has a good available website domain available.

Why Have a Hedge Fund Website?

Website domains are now an integral part of the hedge fund package.  Hedge fund investors are becoming more technology savvy and many communications can be done over the internet or through a website.  This means that the process of setting up a fund can potentially be more demanding (depending on the launch and the needs of the potential hedge fund investors) – not only must managers have all of the back end business operations and legal infrastructure in place, but the manager must also understand, implement and maintain an appropriate web presence.  The foundation for a strong web presence starts with the domain name.

Finding a Hedge Fund Domain Name

While we would all love to have a great one word domain name, it probably is not going to happen (unless you want to shell out a ton of cash).  Even good two word domain names are going to be taken.  To find out if a desired domain name is taken, you can go to any domain agent like www.godaddy.com.  If you search for your domain and don’t find what you are looking for, there are a couple of different options to get a domain you are happy with –

1. Modify your search parameters – if the domain you are trying to get is taken, you can change the wording of the name you are looking for.  If you cannot find a suitable

Company name: XYZ Capital Management, LLC
Desired domain: www.xyz.com  (not available)
Other options: www.xyzcapital.com, www.xyzcapitalmanagement.com, www.xyzcapitalmangementcompany.com, www.xyzcapmanagement.com, www.xyzcapitalmgmt.com, www.xyzcapmgmt.com

For other thoughts on changing the name or spelling, see this Business Week article on company domain names.

2. Buy the desired domain name – if the domain name is taken by a person or a company, you can contact that person or company directly or through a domain agent and try to purchase the domain.  I would expect that for a good domain name it will cost at least $2,000 upwards to $10,000.  Premium names of course can be sold for much higher amounts.  There are also a number of groups out there which domain squat – one group that has a number of hedge fund management company domain names is www.namethat.com.

Other notes

  • Price – the domain name will cost about $10 a year from a group like GoDaddy.
  • Length of time – I recommend buying a domain name for long period of time.  I would say the minimum length should be 5 years.
  • .com or .net? – always go with a .com domain name
  • Compliance – there are no compliance issues which jump out at me right away, but I will keep thinking of this issue.  Obviously if you host a website at the domain you will need to make sure that all marketing done is within the rules, see Hedge Fund Website Rules
  • Hosting – there are a number of ways you can host your domain name and I will be dealing with this issue in a later article on technology for hedge fund managers

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Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to  learn how to start a hedge fund.  Other related hedge fund law articles include:

Hedge Fund Start Up Presentation

How to Start a Hedge Fund in 2009

Below is a link to a powerpoint presentation in which I detail the background information a hedge fund manager must have prior to starting the hedge fund formation process.  The presentation is designed to familiarize a manager with the process of forming a fund while identifying potential issues which the manager should be aware of during the process.

The presentation is 18 slides long and is about 40 minutes.  I will also be posting a video here shortly.

Hedge Fund Presentation with Voice

Starting a hedge fund in 2009 (voice) (voice-over powerpoint)

For more viewing options, please see our Hedge Fund Lawyer youtube profile.

Hedge Fund Presentation without Voice
Starting a Hedge Fund

Virginia Hedge Fund Law

Starting a hedge fund in Virginia

Those hedge fund managers who are starting a hedge fund in Virginia can potentially fit within an exemption from the Virginia investment advisor registration rules.  Like many states which follow the Uniform Securities Act, investment advisors with a place of business in Virginia must register with the securities division (see FAQs below on Virginia investment advisor registration).

However, managers who have funds which start out with more than $5 million in assets, and which are exempt from investment advisor registration with the SEC, may be able to fit within an exclusion from the definition of the term investment advisor and thus not required to be registered with Virginia.  We provide the statute and analysis below. Continue reading