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High Water Women to Host Casino Night
By Maggie Shea, Financial Correspondent
Thursday, January 10, 2008
NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)--High Water Women on Jan. 28 will host its Third Annual Casino Night Benefit to support education and literacy training for children, teens and women. High Water Women is a charity founded by women in hedge funds in 2005.
High Water Women has raised more than $620,000 for the event so far, and aims to raise $780,000 or more altogether, said Marina Winton, executive director of High Water Women. Around 545 people attended last year's event, and High Water Women raised $745,000 before expenses to benefit leading organizations in microfinance Previous HedgeWorld Story.
Casino Night 2008 will feature Texas Hold'em, blackjack, roulette, craps and a live auction. Tickets start at $500 for individuals and go up to $100,000, which buys three tables. Ms. Winton said High Water Women has already sold 24 tables. She added that the organization expects to sell more table packages than last year's event. Those who are unable to attend can donate up to $15,000.
"We are very excited about our third annual Casino Night," said Kathleen Kelley, president and co-founder of High Water Women, in an email response. "We are grateful to our loyal supporters, and welcome the support of a number of additional groups this year, helping to make this one of our most successful events ever."
Casino Night proceeds will benefit organizations including Bottomless Closet, which provides professional clothing and job coaching services to women on assistance and working-poor women; Count Me In, a not-for-profit provider of resources and business education for women entrepreneurs; Women in Need Inc., which offers housing and help to New York City homeless or disadvantaged women and their families; and Young Women's Leadership Foundation, which partners with school districts, parents and community leaders to create single-gender public schools and college guidance programs for inner-city kids.
The live auction will offer packages including a luxury shopping trip in New York City, a villa retreat in Tuscany and a Las Vegas sports fantasy package. Auction details and vendor donations are being finalized, Ms. Winton said.
The benefit will take place at Sotheby's on York Avenue at 72nd St. in New York City at 6:30 p.m. More information is available at www.highwaterwomen.org/philanthropyevents.html.
High Water Women is an organization dedicated to philanthropy and volunteerism for executive women in the finance industry. It supports charitable organizations empowering women and families in New York City and abroad.
Hedge Funds Roll the Dice
By Megan Barnett
January 29, 2008
If there is a credit crisis paralyzing some parts of the hedge fund industry, you would not have noticed it last night at Sotheby's.
High Water Women, a foundation established by women in the hedge fund industry, hosted its third annual Casino Night fundraiser last night at the auction house. The estimated total amount raised was "more than $810,000," according to its interim executive director Marina Winton. That bested last year's fundraiser, which brought in $750,000.
The group raises money to assist charities focused on needy families in the New York area, including Women in Need, Bottomless Closet, and Iris House.
Last night's event began with blackjack and cocktails and moved onto a high-stakes Texas Hold 'Em tournament ($2,000 for a seat, or a minimum of $15,000 for a table of 9) with full dinner service. As the big tourney winner, Andrew Lai from Mezzacappa Management chose a pair of diamond earrings as his prize. He beat out runner-up Heather Howes of Corbin Capital, who won a weekend trip for two to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
There was one indication that, even at the high-income level of the attendees, there are signs of a slowdown in consumer spending. A brief auction of four luxury getaways had more awkward silences than any auctioneer cares to hear.
The first item, a sports package including a box in New York Yankee Stadium for 20 people and a sports-filled trip to Las Vegas, opened at $10,000 and closed two bids later at $12,000, despite the auctioneer's claim that it's worth $20,000.
Next up was a one-week stay in Buenos Aires for four in a 5,000 square-foot apartment with a personal chef. After opening at $15,000 to no interest at all, the first bid was lowered to $10,000. Once the auctioneer added one small detail he failed to mention initially--that the package includes private tennis lessons with Guillermo Vilas--the bidding picked up momentum before eventually ending at $19,000.
But the least interest of all came in response to a luxury weekend in New York City, which is understandable considering most guests already live in the area. Bidding opened and closed at $10,000 with one bid.
Who wants two nights at the Loews Regency when you can rest your head on a pillow in a mansion in Greenwich?
NEW YORK INSIDER
High Water, High Stakes
February 1st, 2008
Sotheby's was positively hopping last night. But unlike the usual scene at the York Avenue temple of buying and selling, it was not a Rothko or Warhol that caused such a commotion. Instead, the auction house was filled with revelers who had come to claim a fistful of play money. The faux dough was put to quick use at an array of roulette and blackjack tables and in a whopping tourney of Texas Hold 'Em.
All in all, tickets to the event, combined with the proceeds of a live auction, brought in more than $800,000 for High Water Women, an organization founded in 2005 by several high-achieving females from the world of finance. These philanthropic-minded pioneers connect similarly minded females to meaningful volunteer opportunities at organizations such as Strive New York and Iris House. High Water Women's rolls now number more than 2,000 members nationwide. If the ladies in attendance last evening were at all typical, it's probably safe to say that this is one group that doesn't hedge its bets.
High Water Women Hosts Third Annual Casino Night
02/01/2008
High Water Women, a philanthropic organization comprised of female wealth management and hedge fund professionals, gathered over 600 finance executives for an evening of betting and dining at Sotheby's in Manhattan. The event, coined Casino Night and held January 28, benefits charities including Bottomless Closet, Count Me In, Inwood House, TASC, Women in Need and The Young Women's Leadership Foundation. The event raised over $810,000, beating last year's tally of $750,000.
Guests enjoyed card games such as Black Jack, Roulette and Craps as well as a private Texas Hold 'Em tournament. The top player of the evening, Andrew Lai from Mezzacappa Management, won Moissanite martini stud earrings set in white gold.
Guests dined on hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, including pumpkin ravioli and Peking duck, which preceded a sit-down dinner. The silent auction, spotlighting luxury trips to Buenos Aires and Tuscany, raised over $60,000.
The organization has a particular focus on funding math and financial literacy programs, while encouraging women in the hedge fund, private equity and wealth management industries to network with non-profit boards to volunteer and raise money for charities and outreach programs (PAM, 1/14).
High Water Women Foundation Casino Night
By Danielle Beurteaux
02/01/2008
James Passin, Firebird Management; Kathleen Kelly, Kingdon Capital Management and co-founder and president
of High Water Women Foundation; Matt Holcolm, Ridgefield Capital.
The hedge fund community, friends and colleagues joined together on January 28 at the third annual High Water Women Foundation Casino Night at Sotheby's in New York City, and raised over $810,000. Proceeds will primarily benefit programs that help support math education for children, and financial literacy training for teens and women. Beneficiaries are: Bottomless Closet, Count Me In, Inwood House, Iris House, Partnership with Children, STRIVE, TASC, TEAK Fellowship, Women in Need (WIN), and The Young Women's Leadership Foundation. In addition, up to 10% of the proceeds will help the organization's capacity-building efforts by which High Water Women can continue to operate, grow, and support its mission.
Many well-known leaders in the hedge fund industry attended the gala celebration, among them executives with Tudor Investment Management, Highbridge Capital Management, Kingdon Capital Management, Galtere Ltd, Glenview Capital Management, Ridgefield Capital, Lee Thomas, Barlow Partners, Coatue, Corbin Capital Partners, Execuzen, Greenlight, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Lewis, James and Sydney Passin, Pershing Square, Prisma Capital Partners, Rothstein Kass, Tremblant Capital Group and Wilmer Hale.
There was also a spectacular live action conducted by Hugh Hildsley of Sotheby's, featuring four one-of-a-kind lots which were all donated. The lots included a Buenos Aires cultural exploration, a Tuscan villa retreat, a New York luxury lifestyle package with shopping jaunts, as well as a Vegas and Sports Fantasy Package which raised $61,000, an amount included in the total raised. The four auction winners were Andrea Bollyky from Aetos Capital, Nicholas Botta from Pershing Square, Kathleen Kelley from Kingdon Capital Management, and Aimee Thomas who attended with her father, Lee Thomas, a table sponsor.
Founded in 2005, High Water Women Foundation is the first organization for senior women in the financial sector focused exclusively on philanthropy and volunteerism. As women become more successful in areas of finance, many of them wish to make a difference through charitable giving, volunteering and other philanthropic activities. High Water Women was founded to support these aspirations, selectively focusing on partnerships where the members' philanthropic and volunteerism goals can converge.
High Water Women Hosted a Casino Night at Sotheby's
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