Hedge funds rely on consultants for advice on risky political environment

Hedge funds are using consultants and political advisors to monitor political events such as elections, civil unrest and regulation, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa and emerging markets.

“I don’t think I can remember a time when political risk has been so important,” says Steven Bell, director of $1.3 billion asset management company GLG.

Dithering by the eurozone and generally hostile exchanges between key players, like the German Bundesbank and the European Central Bank over the fate of Greece, is just one example of the kind of political risk hedge funds now need to take into consideration for even the most basic market trades. The surprise election of Peruvian left-wing