On Wednesday night, the conservancy took a major step toward that goal when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a $20 million gift to the High Line from the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation.

The gift, which will help build up the park’s endowment and pay for the design of the last section, is the single largest donation ever made to a New York City park, according to city officials.

It follows two previous donations totaling $15 million to the High Line from Barry Diller, chairman of IAC and Expedia, and his wife, the designer Diane von Furstenberg.

“It’s not surprising that Barry and Diane — visionaries that they are — got in early on the High Line project,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “But even better, they are seeing it through. Their generosity is leading the way for the High Line to become a New York icon that will be enjoyed for generations to come.”

The High Line is an unusual public-private partnership. The city paid most of the construction costs of the first two sections (the second opened earlier this year), which together run from Gansevoort to 30th Streets.

But Friends of the High Line, the conservancy that rallied to save the railway from demolition and raised money for its transformation into a park, assumed full responsibility for the cost of the operations from the start.

With three million annual visitors, 10 times what the founders of the conservancy initially envisioned, wear and tear, as well as educational programming, is a constant challenge for the 60-member staff.

“If you ask Josh or me what keeps us up at night, it’s not next year or whether we complete it — we know it will get done,” said Robert Hammond, co-founder of Friends of the High Line along with Joshua David. “It’s the maintenance, and this gives us security. Having an endowment gives us another revenue stream to fall back on in hard times.”

Annual operating costs for the park come to $3 million.

But perhaps just as important is the gift’s ability to propel Friends of the High Line toward the finish line: the railway’s endpoint at 34th Street. Now the curvaceous teak benches and ornamental grasses that make up the park’s northern landscaping stop abruptly at that chain-link fence.

On the other side is a jumble of weeds, rocks and old ladders. The future section, which hugs the West Side Railyards, runs west to 12th Avenue and then continues north to 34th Street.

That segment is owned by CSX Transportation, which is now in negotiations with city officials, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other interested parties, on an agreement that would allow for public access. In 2005, CSX donated the portion of the High Line south of 30th Street to the city.

Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation, said the talks dealt with a “very complicated site.” But he added that “everyone wants for the city to eventually” obtain the site for the High Line park.

Mr. David and Mr. Hammond estimate that the final half-mile stretch will cost up to $75 million to build, about the same as each of the first two half-mile sections. Given the constraints on the city’s budget, private sources will have to cover the initial capital expense, they said. Before the new gift, Friends of the High Line had raised about $65 million toward its $150 million fund-raising goal.

In a statement, Mr. Diller took the long view. “In a hundred years, people will be amazed that this park was ever built, and during all that time it will have given pleasure to such great numbers of people,” he said. “I’m glad that our family is able to pay a small role in making the High Line a reality.”

In a city of deep-pocketed philanthropists, the donation from Mr. Diller and Ms. von Furstenberg turned heads, not least because it went to a park rather than a cultural or educational institution. Previously, the largest private gift to a park was $17 million from the philanthropist Richard Gilder in 1993 to Central Park.

Friends of the High Line hopes that the $20 million donation will inspire additional giving.

That happened once before. After the Museum of Modern Art mounted a small exhibition of designs for the park in 2005, the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation made its first gift of $5 million, generating interest in the project. Then came a gift of $10 million from the foundation in 2009. Earlier this year, Tiffany and Company Foundation gave a $5 million challenge grant.

The return on those investments has been substantial; the first two sections of the High Line have generated more than $2 billion in planned or new development, city officials said. The park has also become a major tourist attraction, drawing a quarter of its visitors from outside the United States.

Gazing at the unfinished segment, Martin Oeggerli, 37, a photographer visiting from Switzerland, said he would like the park to keep going. “It would go straight to the Hudson and give you a great view,” he said.

Last week, when Mr. Diller told Friends of the High Line of the gift over the phone, the conference room erupted. “A large number of people on our staff burst into tears,” Mr. Hammond said.

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For additional coverage of the pledge, please click on the link below:

http://thehighline.org/news/2011/10/28/diller-von-furstenberg-family-foundation-makes-historic-20m-commitment

Alexander von Furstenberg and The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation have granted a $10,000 endowment to the American Tall Ship Institute, an educational non-profit based in Oxnard, California targeted at youth ages 9-18.

Founded in 2007 by Captain Stephen Taylor, the mission of ATSI is to “encourage positive youth and community development through environmentally aware, curriculum-based, ocean-centered programs.”  Using ships as teaching tools to connect youth to the environment, ATSI partners with local youth service organizations, school districts and gang intervention programs.

Alex von Furstenberg has long supported educational and environmental programming in Southern California.  Alex recently pledged multi-year support to environmental organization Heal The Bay, and has sponsored day camps organized by Surfer’s Healing, another local non-profit that fuses a passion for the ocean with children’s causes.

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For more on the American Tall Ship Institute, please visit:

http://americantallship.org/mission.html

 Alexander von Furstenberg has pledged $25,000 in support of the Beverly Hills Police Officers Association’s 22^nd Annual Black & White Ball, which will be held on November 8^th, 2010 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  Proceeds from the event will benefit the BHPOA’s Medical Trust Fund, which provides ongoing benefits for retired officers and their families, and financial support to active personnel during times of catastrophic injury or illness. 

 “I am proud to contribute to this very worthy cause” said Alex von Furstenberg. “These officers have dedicated their lives to improving and protecting our community and are deserving of our continued support.”

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 Alexander von Furstenberg is the Director and Secretary of The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation, which has supported BHPOA programs since 2005. 

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For more on the Beverly Hills Police Officers Association, please visit: http://bhpoaonline.org/

A personal gift from Alexander von Furstenberg and Alexandra von Furstenberg will fund scholarships and finance special projects at Los Angeles’ Curtis School.  At least $250,000 has been designated as financial aid for students in need.

 “My kids are fortunate to be receiving a first-rate education at Curtis School,” said Alex von Furstenberg. “It is important to me that regardless of circumstance, deserving children get a shot at the same opportunity.” 

 Alex’s passion for educational opportunity is shared by his family’s Foundation, The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation, which has contributed over $6 million in support of charter schools, Universities and educational programs since 1999. 

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The Curtis School “seeks to inspire a love of learning, to promote appreciation of and participation in athletics and the arts, and to instill a strong sense of moral behavior. Curtis nurtures a student’s natural abilities while maintaining that children need direction, discipline, and standards of excellence to thrive. [Curtis’] goal is a sound mind in a sound body governed by a compassionate heart.”

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Ali Kay, co-founder and designer of Keep Me Co., left, Alex von Furstenberg, co-managing member and chief investment officer of Arrow Capital Management LLC, second from left, Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Expedia Inc., second from right, and Sydney Shapiro arrive for morning sessions at the 28th annual Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Friday, July 9, 2010.  Photo courtesy of Matthew Staver/Bloomberg.

http://topics.wsj.com/subject/m/Management/3200/photos/51134ba091a240c48319ea22e2183392

Alex von Furstenberg accepts the 2010 American Art Award

The Whitney Museum will pay tribute Alexander von Furstenberg and The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation for their “sustained commitment to the artistic and cultural heritage of the arts in America” at the Museum’s 19^th annual gala dinner on May 6^th.

The gala signifies the inaugural event at The Whitney’s future downtown site at Gansevoort and Washington Streets in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.  Alex von Furstenberg will be presented with the American Art Award, which will be accompanied by the unveiling of a large-scale collaborative commission from American artists Wade Guyton and Kelley Walker.  The first of three installations in an exhibition collectively titled “Whitney on Site: New Commissions Downtown,” Guyton/Kelley’s work can be viewed publically from the High Line from May 8^th through June 23^rd; subsequent six-week installations by Tauba Auerbach and Barbara Kruger will follow.

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For more coverage of the May 6^th event, please click on the links below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703674704575234430135310668.html?mod=WSJ_article_RecentColumns

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/whitney-supporters-try-out-a-new-locale/

John will assume responsibility for the firm’s operations, including its strategic growth initiatives. He will report to Co-Managing Members Alexander von Furstenberg and Mal Serure. John was previously a Senior Analyst at Arrow.

“John’s appointment reflects Arrow’s commitment to building upon the strong operational infrastructure established by our CFO, Amy Wolf. Since joining our team in 2008, John has developed a thorough understanding of our business practices and has made contributions to all aspects of Arrow, making him the natural candidate for the role of COO,” said Alex von Furstenberg.

Prior to joining Arrow, John worked for Landmark Advisors, LLC as a member of its investment committee. At Landmark, John was responsible for evaluating alternative investments for inclusion in Landmark’s portfolios including conducting all aspects of operational due diligence. He began his career in Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management division. He earned his BS magna cum laude from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Mal Serure added, “In his new role, John is tasked with ensuring Arrow has the best processes, systems and controls in place as we continue to grow. Importantly, his mandate will enable all members of our team to focus on their respective areas of expertise.”

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To view the original source of this article, please click on the link below:

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100414005382&newsLang=en

From Kirsten Bischoff for Opalesque New York — For the past few months as inflows have started to increase, institutional investors evaluating managers for allocations have made it clear that the bar for securing assets has been raised. According to most investor surveys, managers need a minimum track record of five years with strong performance, a history of maintaining liquidity to investors (or a very compelling explanation for any gates raised during the financial crisis), and comfort with a high level of transparency along with the infrastructure to support it.

Although the number of funds has been severely reduced, there remains a group of managers that meet these stringent requirements and that recognize that now is the time to step up efforts to secure these inflows into the industry. For New York-based Arrow Capital Management, an event-driven alternative investment firm launched seven years ago by Alexander von Furstenberg and Mal Serure, this means taking more proactive steps, one of which includes the recent hire of industry marketing veteran, Ivan Wanat.

“Since launching in 2003, allocations have been largely from word of mouth referrals. We have not proactively marketed,” senior analyst John DeRaimo says. The hire of Wanat marked the beginning of an asset raising campaign by the team at Arrow Capital, in what the firm views as a move to increase and diversify their investor base.

“We see the opportunity set in front of us as so compelling; the risk adjusted returns that our investors are seeing now and should see over the next few years have never been so attractive,” von Furstenberg told Opalesque during a recent interview.

Strategy, performance, and expectations
Von Furstenberg and Serure view their mandate as global and opportunistic, having invested primarily in large and mid-cap US, European and Asian public equities during the last 7 years. The pair’s current focus is on opportunities in large US multinationals. “I’ve been waiting more than a decade to invest in some of these companies at these valuations, that’s also why we are proactively raising capital for the first time,” says von Furstenberg.

“We view the opportunity to invest in large, multinational companies with high operating margins, conservative balance sheets, and strong management teams as unprecedented – its the current ‘special situation’,” he says. In addition to high quality companies undervalued in relation to their earnings power, the firm continues to pursue more traditional event-driven opportunities around catalysts such as spin-offs, demutualizations and post bankruptcy re-orgs.

Waiting for the right event and valuation to unfold in order to invest in a company they have spent years researching is nothing new to the team. Arrow Capital currently has multiple positions that are now being established after years of research and management meetings.

Transparency and Liquidity
While performance is still the best way to gain the attention of institutional investors, more and more are increasing their focus on a fund’s history of transparency and liquidity. Arrow Capital’s beginnings as a strategy to run internal family assets was set up to be transparent from day one. Arrow’s results have always been audited and the firm has provided its clients with monthly statements and security-level transparency.

Like many managers Serure and von Furstenberg are conscious of potential investors’ interest in the firm’s stability through the financial crisis. “We are definitely receiving more detailed questions about our finance and operational infrastructure and we are happy to field them,” says von Furstenberg.

When discussing investor redemptions that they saw through the credit crisis, they echo a trend that Opalesque has observed in many recent interviews. Whereas prior to 2008 investment managers were loathe to discuss redemptions, Arrow Capital is quick to point out that they, like many firms had clients make redemption requests for myriad reasons.

Acknowledging this, they are able to then make a claim that only a limited number of managers can, “We did have redemptions and the assets were returned to investors. We did not suspend redemptions,” he says, noting the team has opted not to include the option for gates or side pocket vehicles in their offering documents. “One of the things I’m really proud of is the liquidity we are able to provide our clients given the liquid nature of our underlying investments.”

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To view this article on the Opalesque website, please visit:  http://www.opalesque.com/57583/Managers_in_sweet_spot_are_focusing_on583.html

Investors are showing renewed interest in event driven hedge funds that aim to profit from the uncertainty surrounding corporate events such as mergers, acquisitions, spinouts and bankruptcies.

More than half the $13.8 billion in new capital allocated to hedge funds in the final quarter of 2009 was invested in event driven strategies, such as merger arbitrage and distressed debt funds, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research.
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So long as debt markets continue to improve, M&A activity will remain robust through 2010, adds Alex von Furstenberg, co-portfolio manager at Arrow Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund that invests in event driven situations.

“Our analysis of balance sheets outside the financial sector suggests that many companies remained conservatively capitalised during the crisis and have sufficient resources to make accretive acquisitions or to be attractive buy-out candidates,” he says.
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Arrow Capital Management has always taken an opportunistic approach to event driven investing, says von Furstenberg. “Our mandate has never been to purely focus on spin-offs, distressed or merger arbitrage trades. We have invested in those situations only when we believed they had the best risk-reward characteristics,” he says.

He says Arrow is currently focused on what it sees as the mispricing of strong, multi-national companies, rather than traditional event driven opportunities. “In our opinion, the valuations of some high quality companies still do not reflect the strength and sustainability of their earning power, especially those companies with exposure to developing markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China,” says von Furstenberg.
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To view this article in its entirety, please visit: http://www.hedgefundsreview.com/hedge-funds-review/feature/1588666/a-positive-events

MSAR is a non-profit, all volunteer organization comprised of Reserve Deputy Sheriffs and civilian volunteers who participate in the search and rescue of lost or injured persons within a 187 square mile section of the Santa Monica Mountains.  The Team is affiliated with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and is a member of the Mountain Rescue Association.

Kevin Ryan, a 30-year member of the Team expanded upon MSAR’s volunteer efforts.  “The Team responds to all types of rescues: Lost or missing persons, stranded hikers, downed aircraft and hang gliders, vehicles over the side, brush fires, natural disasters and river rescues.  The Team also goes to schools in the area and gives search and rescue tips to the kids.”

Alex von Furstenberg’s $38,500 gift has enabled a complete outfitting of MSAR’s lead search vehicle.  Said Ryan, “This contribution will allow our team to fully equip a new rescue truck with all of the tools needed for a search and rescue operation.”

Of his contribution, Alex von Furstenberg said, “I am pleased to help strengthen the efforts of these volunteers who selflessly donate their time in order to assist people in imminent danger.  It is my hope that this equipment will help the Team ensure the safe rescue of all those who find themselves in unfortunate and urgent situations while exploring our community.”  

Alexander, an avid kite-surfer and active outdoorsman, resides in Malibu with his family.  In addition to his support of MSAR, Alex recently demonstrated his passion and concern for the well-being of his Southern-California community and its environment by pledging $150,000 over 3 years to sponsor Malibu’s comprehensive beach water quality program, the Beach Report Card.  Backed by Alex’s family’s foundation, The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation, and Co-sponsored by the non-profit organization Heal The Bay, the Beach Report Card is California’s only program dedicated to the extensive analysis of water quality along its coastline.