When Joe Bucci joined hedge fund Lyford Group as chief operating officer a year ago, his first task wasn't to set trading strategy or bring in new clients. It was to find enough office space in New York City to comfortably fit a staff of five without breaking the bank.

Lyford's global macro-strategy fund, started in 2002 by former trader Samer Nsouli in the Bahamas, had a modest $10 million in assets under management. "We didn't want to spend exorbitant sums of money and then hope the assets would grow," recalls Bucci, former manager of Credit Suisse First Boston's prime brokerage operation.

IMTRADER has developed the first AIM-certified instant messaging network for electronic trading, communications and research distribution--designed to meet the demands of the institutional community. The IMTRADER Network provides both buy side and sell side members with increased efficiency, time savings, tighter integration and access among users. IMTRADER is certified by AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

The IMTRADER Network enables buy side firms to simultaneously access multiple sell side member firms; it features advanced trading capabilities to the product’s AIM to FIX connectivity, and offers access to a sell side firm’s research library using AIM.

Hedge fund managers should take control of fund performance, exposure, and risk data to create a better understanding of their portfolio’s opportunities and risks. One affordable way to take control is to invest in a local data store, or “big box”, which is defined as a collection of all relevant data from in-house and outsourced systems, including those offered by prime brokers and custodians.