Canada’s hedge fund industry gathered earlier this month to raise $150,000 in support of Hedge Funds Care Canada (HFCC), the country’s only philanthropy dedicated exclusively to the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect.

The fifth-annual gala at Toronto’s Sutton Place Hotel brought together both local and visiting hedge fund professionals for a fifth consecutive year, helping the charity boost proceeds provided to charities and foundations that deal specifically with abuse-related trauma and neglect, which since inception in Canada has now surpassed $400,000 in grants.

“The Canadian hedge fund industry is particularly devoted to philanthropic causes, and this cause resonates, even more so in these difficult economic times,” said Corey Goldman, president and director of Hedge Funds Care Canada, in a release. “Hard times bring stress, and stress causes pain but there is no reason that any child should be exposed to physical or psychological trauma, maltreatment or neglect.”

“If you believe that the current pressures of the economic environment are a lot to bear, imagine the stress that a parent who does not have the means to support themselves or their families is under, and what that can potentially lead to,” said University of Toronto Professor and academic consultant Marion Bogo. “The programs that your money funds help prevent maltreatment at its earliest stages, which in turn helps our society overall.”

Assisting with the fundraising efforts and adding to the evening were the efforts of HFCC’s local and international sponsors, which included: AIMA Canada, Arrow Hedge Partners, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets Prime Brokerage, Commonwealth Fund Services, Credit Suisse, Deloitte & Touche, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Harmonic Fund Services, Hillsdale Investment Management, HSBC, JC Clark, KPMG, MAN Investments, Mapleridge Capital, McMillan, Merlin Securities, Morgan Stanley, Pertrac, RBC Capital Markets, Thomson Reuters, and Sprott Asset Management.

HFCC is part of a larger alliance of hedge fund industry professionals that comprise New York-based Hedge Funds Care, which was established in 1998 by Rob Davis, a dedicated hedge fund professional interested in giving back to protect children from abuse and neglect.

The global group, which includes prime brokers, attorneys, accountants, information providers, investors and managers, has raised approximately $31 million through annual benefits in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, London and the Cayman Islands.

IE