WASHINGTON--Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., one of the senior Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee, is leaving Congress after 22 years to become head of the Managed Funds Association, a hedge fund lobby group.

The Washington-based MFA says on its Web site that it has advocacy efforts underway in Washington and abroad "to reshape the media's distortions and the public's misperceptions about the hedge fund industry." MFA describes itself as an organization for investment professionals in futures, hedge funds, commodity pool operators and other alternative investments.

As a member of the Financial Services panel and the former chairman of the subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises when Republicans held the majority, Rep. Baker played a role in numerous debates on issues affecting the insurance industry, including terrorism risk, flood insurance reforms and the creation of an optional federal charter for insurers.