Reports are listing a San Francisco-based private equity firm as the leading candidate in the bidding war over ETF leader BGI.

That shouldn't come as a big surprise to those following the next evolution of a changing iShares brand.

In case you missed it, weekend stories in papers ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the Sunday Times reported that a list of finalists has emerged in the auction of Barclays Global Investors by its parent London bank. Insiders are indicating that Hellman & Friedman LLC could wind up as the leading candidate to assume control of BGI.

As pointed out in the WSJ, that's a private equity firm also based in San Francisco with a history of past relations with the asset manager. Other possibilities, according to the paper, are Bain Capital and other private equity rivals such as TPG and Apax Partners LLP.

Although we've heard some industry

...

Beleagured nationwide commercial bank Washington Mutual, or WaMu (WM) is reportedly interested in being sold.  Probably more importantly, there do seem to be viable suitors out there who are interested in buying.  The New York Times talked about Wells Fargo (WFC) and Citicorp (C), in particular.

Stepping out of the way when it could have made trouble for a deal it made just before WaMu went on red alert, investment firm TPG has decided to honor the $7 billion influx to the bank.  An AP report this morning mentions that a failure of Washington Mutual could cost the FDIC north of $20 billion.  Where money like that will come from at this point, who really knows?

So there is motivation for other firms to step in and buy WaMu outright before it crashes and all that's left are little pieces.  WM shares are down 85% year-to-date.  The September quarter is expected

...

Pharos FundPharos Financial Group - Hedge FundsThe following piece on Pharos Fund is being published as part of our daily effort to track hedge fund events in the industry. To review other hedge fund related announcements please see our Hedge Fund Tracker Tool.

___________________________________

The following is a list of resources and information that is publicly available about Pharas Fund.Pharos fund portfolio.Whitepaper on Pharos Fund. The White paper explains how the pharos fund manager makes decisions.Every letter to all investors for 2008, from the Pharos Fund and Gas Fund.Excel spreadsheet of every Pharos funds performance. So far, 2008 has a negative return on every fund.Excel spreadsheet breakdown of Sector allocations for the pharos fund.Excel spreadsheet breakdown of Sector allocations for ...