Hedge fund managers require various third party vendor-provided products and services to manage their daily operations.  Typical agreements entered into by hedge fund managers for such products and services include trading system agreements, license agreements for investment analysis tools, risk management and portfolio valuation software, market data license agreements, software development agreements, hardware purchase agreements, website design agreements, consulting agreements and administration agreements.  All vendor agreements cover a common set of issues, including vendor performance obligations, indemnification and limitations on liability.  In addition to these common issues, vendor agreements entered into by hedge fund managers contain a few distinctive issues arising from the unique structure and the private nature of hedge fund groups.  In a guest article, Robert R. Kiesel, a Partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP and chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property, Sourcing & Technology Group, and David L. Cummings, an Associate in Schulte’s Intellectual Property, Sourcing & Technology Group, discuss: selection of vendors and vendor breach; hedge fund structuring as it relates to vendor agreements; party selection; IT agreement standard scope restrictions; liability for trades; use of output and results; issues related to hedge fund secrecy; confidentiality; in-house systems versus third-party systems; privacy; arbitration; and publicity.