GERMANY – A top executive at the Deutsche Börse has said how much the exchange values hedge funds due to the turnover they bring.

The comments come amid a bitter row between the exchange and hedge fund group TCI, The Children’s Investment Fund Management. And it comes against the backdrop of critical comments about hedge funds from German finance minister Hans Eichel.

“We love hedge funds,” said Rainer Riess, managing director of business development at the exchange. He told IPE in an interview that hedge funds bring a lot of volume to the exchange.

But he said the exchange was not so keen on hedge funds when they acted in a “political” manner.

It’s the latest twist in a dispute sparked by the Frankfurt exchange’s aborted takeover of the London Stock Exchange, with TCI managing partner Christopher Hohn calling for the removal of Deutche Börse chief executive Werner Seifert.

The affair has seen a series of recriminatory letters between the exchange and TCI.

The exchange’s supervisory board yesterday set up a committee under chairman Rolf Breuer which will “endeavour to hold discussions to see if a solution can be reached” with TCI.

Earlier this week finance minister Hans Eichel suggested that short-term investment strategies such as those employed by hedge funds should be outlawed. He was quoted by the Financial Times as saying: “There are reasons to think about regulations that do not favour people making quick money and moving on."

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