Players swing at hedge fund pitch

Four prominent Major League Baseball players are major investors in a hedge fund that was launched this past March. The athletes: New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada; Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano; Jose Contreras, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox; and New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez. They are listed as ``beneficial owners'' of Quantum Hedge Strategies Fund LP, according to a July 12 private placement noticed filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission according to a Bloomberg report. The financial advisers, former New York-based Merrill Lynch & Co. employees Juan Collar and Anthony Fernandez, plan to raise as much as $60 million for the fund, according to the report. The Quantum fund has raised $12 million so far and each of the players could end up owning less than 10% of the fund each, according to Mark Leeds, an attorney for the advisers' firm, cited in the report. Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Collar primarily invest in fixed income securities such as bonds, Mr. Leeds said. They generated profits for their clients earlier this year by betting against the mortgage market, according to the report. According to an investment adviser registration filed with the SEC, Quantum Family Office Group had about $54 million in assets under management as of March 21.