People and Business: Hedging bets

PEOPLE HAVE got it all wrong about hedge funds. They seem to think such funds are there to smash up currencies. Witness the gasps of horror this week when Arminio Fraga, the managing director of Soros Fund Management, was named as president of the Brazil Central Bank.

This is a gross misconception. Central banks and hedge funds have very close relationships the world over, as is shown by another appointment this week.

Klaus Regeling, a senior official with the German Finance Ministry, has joined Moore Capital, one of the world's top five hedge funds.

Mr Regeling had been working on European policy for Oskar Lafontaine's ministry, and is now expected to do some "high level schmoozing" for the New York-based hedge fund, according to a City source.