Shorting on the marriage market: How hedge fund managers gamble on bitter divorce battles

Article here. Excerpt:

"Investors are gambling on bitter divorce battles between women and their rich husbands in return for a share of the spoils, it has emerged.

Venture capitalists, hedge funds and high-end lenders are putting up money to women who want to fight their husbands in court.

In return, the investors take a chunk of the court payouts.

According to The Sunday Times, one company now has loans out to more than 100 'high net worth' spouses - it charges about 20 per cent interest for up-front divorce financing.

It is believed the market is growing rapidly, not least because of cuts to the legal aid budget and the credit crunch meaning banks are refusing to lend money.
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Steve Jones, a business development manager for Argent, a barristers' chambers, told of the growing trend: 'Rather than backing stocks and shares, hedge funds are backing litigation, because the returns are good for successful cases. They wouldn't be doing it unless they thought they could make money out of it.'"