The insider

Last month Richard Baker, a member of the US House of Representatives, announced he would leave his post to become president and chief executive of the Managed Funds Association (MFA), the principal trade association for hedge funds as well as a lobbying group.
The move comes as hedge funds, like private equity funds, are under fire from legislators on a number of fronts, including the taxation of carried interest, disclosure, the use of offshore entities, registration with the SEC and the taxation of deferred compensation.
Baker, a Republican from Louisiana who served on the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement: “I have come to appreciate greatly the vital role played by the alternative investment industry in our economy and the importance of its continued success to the competitiveness of our nation’s capital markets.”
In a separate report he said he had been a “very strong and outspoken advocate for more transparency” in the hedge fund industry, adding that he is a “very committed, freemarket person.”
Baker said: “I have some abilities the market would find of value. I have been in elective service for 37 years.” Baker will have to observe a one-year “cooling off” period before he can approach lawmakers on behalf of the MFA.
Last year saw the abrupt rise to prominence of the Private Equity Council, a lobbying group formed by the largest US private equity firms to counter unfavorable legislation on Capitol Hill. The PEC is led by former video-game industry lobbyist Douglas Lowenstein.
Baker will replace Jack Gaine, who led the MFA for the past 10 years. The MFA, based in Washington DC, was established in 1991.
t says its members “represent the vast majority of the largest hedge fund groups in the world who manage a substantial portion of the approximately $2 trillion invested in absolute return strategies.”
In a report, Baker declined to say what he would be paid at the MFA.