Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Increases Stake in $PANL (InsiderMonkey)
Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital filed Form 4s for its recent insider purchases in Universal Display Corp \PA\ (PANL). According to the Form 4 disclosures, Discovery Capital bought 150 thousand shares in PANL at $42.56 on November 3rd, and another 300 thousand shares at $44.67 on November 1st. So the firm takes approximately 5.62 million shares in PANL, giving 12.3% passive stake in the company. So far Discovery Capital has boosted its position by 84%, up from its 3.06 million shares position at the end of the second quarter. PANL realized strong uptrends in the third quarter. The stock is now trading at $49.43, representing a 62% return year to date.
Otkritie Securities Hires Ex-Hyerdale Trader Patrick D’Angelo (FINAlternatives)
Russian investment bank Otkritie Securities has hired a hedge fund trader to lead its own trading effort in New York. Patrick D’Angelo was named director of equity sales at trading in the Big Apple. He joins Otkritie on Nov. 14 from hedge fund Hyerdale Capital, EmergingMarkets.me reports. “His knowledge and skills will help Otkritie to build upon the momentum the firm has achieved thus far, following on a very strong list of new institutional client ‘wins’ in the past two years,” Luis Saenz, CEO of Okritie’s U.S. effort, said.
Rega Tech to Launch Long/Short Equities Hedge Fund (Reuters)
Hong Kong-based Rega Technologies plans to launch a China-focused long/short equities hedge fund in January with about $40 million in initial capital from partners, friends and family, its Managing Director Kin-Leung Chan said. The firm, founded by a former Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s assistant professor of finance Dr Jie Zhang and Gang Fu, who worked at Hong Kong-based Vision Investment, received a licence from the market regulator last week.
Steve Cohen Is Bullish About $GNC (InsiderMonkey)
Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital disclosed a 4.8% stake in GNC Holdings (GNC). Steve Cohen had a minuscule amount of GNC at the end of second quarter, so this is really a brand new position for him. Steve Cohen probably paid around $24.75 for these shares at the end of November.
SEC Claims SoCal Investment Firm Western Pacific Lied About Fund (Businessweek)
Tom Brown’s Second Curve Capital Reported for $PRS (InsiderMonkey)
Tom Brown’s Second Curve Capital reported its insider trading in Primus Guaranty Ltd (PRS) on November 10th. The Form 4 shows Second Curve Capital sold 5,000 shares at $6.14 on November 8th, and then bought 10,000 shares at $5.56 on the next day. Second Curve Capital has made several insider transactions towards PRS after the second quarter, and now the firm has approximately 5.32 million shares in PRS. Second Curve Capital reported 6.6 million PRS shares in the second quarter and approximately 5.27 million shares on September 22nd. So now the firm held about 15% activist stake in PRS, down by 20% from its position in Q2. PRS has returned about 7% in 2011, and is now priced at $5.45.
SEC Alleges Deceptive Conduct Against Hedge Fund of Ponzi Schemes And Frauds (Forbes)
A fund of hedge funds offers its investors the chance to pay high fees in return for an investment strategy that provides broad exposure to the hedge fund industry in an effort to diversify risk. But this strategy doesn’t work so well if many of the hedge funds selected for the portfolio turn out to be either Ponzi schemes or fraudulent. Chetan Kapur, a manager of a formerly $500 million fund of hedge funds, was accused on Thursday by the Securities & Exchange Commission of deceptive conduct in a civil complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan.
Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management Reports 10.3% Passive Stake in Quicksilver (InsiderMonkey)
Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management files on November 10th that the firm now takes 17.56 million shares in Quicksilver Resources Inc. (KWK), giving a 10.3% passive stake. According to the filing, this is a brand new opening in Southeastern Asset Management’s position, since the firm did not report any share in the stock in its last 13F. KWK experienced large slumps in the third quarter. Southeastern Asset Management might enter at about $7 when the stock dropped to its 2-year low in early October. So far KWK has lost 50%, and is trading at $7.87.
Hedge Funds Propel NC Economy (BizJournals)
The vast majority of U.S.-based hedge funds are concentrated in a few select cities and, except for Greenwich and Westport, Conn., you’d be hard-pressed to find a legitimate small town among them … that is, besides Chapel Hill. Even so, in the eyes of the hedge fund world Chapel Hill is neither a first nor second-tier player, but it’s clearly on the map with six hedge fund and hedge fund of fund operators managing roughly $13 billion in client investments.
