With its membership facing continued scrutiny from Congress and the news media, the Managed Funds Association has hired crisis-management expert Steve Hinkson as its new director of communications.  

Hinkson joined the the hedge fund industry trade group in early February from Dezenhall Resources, where, his bio says, he "counseled corporations, trade associations and high- profile individuals in need of crisis management, media defense and public affairs support."

Before that, Hinkson was director of political communication for Luntz Maslansky Strategic Research where he advised the Bush II White House, members of Congress and state party caucuses on messaging. Hinkson's hiring is the latest suggestion that the MFA wants more control over its image in the press. Earlier this year, the group barred the media from covering its late January confab in Key Biscayne, Fla., -- a reversal of its policy for the past 15 years.