Now that's magic. Manny Roman, chief executive of hedge-fund company Man Group, has summoned up $550m in surplus capital, boosting its forecast excess by some 2.5 times.

Regulators effectively agreed to treat Man as a standard asset manager, rather than a pseudo-bank, releasing a $300m capital buffer. A further $250m, still to be vetted by the UK's new financial watchdog, stems from changes in Man's business, including the shrinkage of its once-vaunted structured-products division. Man shares jumped, despite the fact that the hedge fund's balance sheet has changed not one bit. Investors, who have bid the stock up nearly 30% this year after Roman's appointment in December, should be wary.