Trump Rules Out Scaramucci as He Considers Next Press Secretary (Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump said he hasn’t decided who will replace Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary but that it won’t be his former communications director, financier Anthony Scaramucci. “I like Anthony,” who is known as the Mooch, but “he should stay where he is right now,” Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News on Friday. The president announced on Thursday that Sanders would resign at the end of the month.
A Nudge From Dan Loeb Could Pay Dividends for Sony (The Wall Street Journal)
Activist investor Daniel Loeb is calling for a split of Sony again. He may not get everything he wants, but he probably won’t come away empty-handed either. As Japan was waking up Friday, Mr. Loeb’s New York-based hedge fund, Third Point, sent an open letter and a 108-page presentation to Sony’s investors suggesting ways to unlock value at the Japanese technology conglomerate. Chief among its proposals: spin off its semiconductor division to Sony’s shareholders.
Phongphan/Shutterstock.com
Nelson Peltz May Want To Flush Plumbing Company Out Of Brexit Britain (Deal Breaker)
Learning that Trian Partners has taken a large stake in one’s company is not usually a happy moment for a company’s executives or directors. Trian chief Nelson Peltz does not make it a habit of investing in businesses that he thinks are well run, and he is neither shy of opinions about things nor voicing them, loudly and repeatedly, until he gets his way. Well, the executives and directors of something called Ferguson Plc have now had that moment, following on another rather unpleasant moment for them.
Asset Managers with More Advanced Technology are Growing Over Twice as Fast as Peers (Opalesque.com)
The asset managers with the most advanced technology operating models continue to outperform their peers in terms of revenue growth, driven by accelerated adoption of cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. Fund managers implementing technological advances reported an average 3.3% annual growth rate over the past 12 months in revenue, compared with 1.1% for other fund managers, according to the survey, released Thursday by FIS, a technology and outsourcing firm. 49% of the executives surveyed – nearly double the number from the 2017 report – said they were confident they have the right technology in place to support their growth ambitions, a number that climbs to 71% for operational leaders.
Barnes & Noble Says it Did Not Get Any Other Bids Before Elliott’s Deadline (CNBC)
Barnes & Noble said on Friday it had not received any other offers from prospective bidders before Elliott Management’s “keep-shop” deadline. Elliott, which offered $475.8 million to take the bookstore retailer private, had a provision that allows the hedge fund to be entitled to a payment of up to $4 million if the retailer struck a deal with a third party before the deadline. Thereafter, the breakup fee will be $17.5 million.
Emerging Hedge Fund Managers Take ’Key Steps to Success’ at Hedgeweek Event in NYC (Hedge Week)
Fund and fee structuring, operational due diligence, cybersecurity, selecting the right service providers and the fund raising process itself, were all hot topics at a Hedgeweek event for emerging hedge fund managers and service providers in New York yesterday (13 June). The one-day event – Key Steps to Success: Managing a Start-up or Emerging Hedge Fund in 2019 – which was held at the University Club and attracted over 120 delegates, featured a panel of industry experts including Wincrest Capital founder Barbara Ann Bernard, Don Steinbrugge, founder and managing parter of Agecroft Partners, and Marianne Scordel of Bougeville Consulting.
Hedge Fund Adviser to Pay $5 Million for Compliance Failures Related to Valuation of Fund Assets (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that a private fund manager in the mortgage-backed securities space has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty to settle charges stemming from compliance deficiencies that contributed to the firm’s failure to ensure that certain securities in its flagship fund were valued properly. The fund manager’s chief investment officer (CIO) agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty. An SEC investigation found that Colorado-based investment adviser Deer Park Road Management Company LP, in connection with its flagship STS Partners’ fund which has been ranked as one of the most consistent performing hedge funds in the country, failed to have policies and procedures to address the risk that its traders were undervaluing securities and selling for a profit when needed.
Adrigo Small & Midcap L/S Named Best New HF in Europe (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Adrigo Small & Midcap L/S has been crowned the “Best New European Hedge Fund” at the inaugural Eurekahedge Global Hedge Fund Awards. This award is handed out to the best European hedge fund launched during the 12 months ending September 2018. Managed by portfolio manager Staffan Östlin (pictured), Adrigo Small & Midcap L/S is a stock-picking hedge fund searching for long and short opportunities among small- and mid-cap Nordic companies. The long/short equity vehicle was launched by Stockholm-based asset manager Adrigo Asset Management in November 2017 and earned a cumulative return of 31.6 percent net of fees since inception. With a year-to-date gain of 14.1 percent, Adrigo Small & Midcap L/S currently ranks among this year’s top ten best-performing hedge funds in the Nordic Hedge Index.
