Anthony Scaramucci to Trump: CEOs Holding Back Spending Because China Tariffs are Too Unpredictable (CNBC)
American CEOs want more clarity from President Donald Trump on China so they can better plan their business spending needs, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci told CNBC on Thursday. He also said China is doing a better job than the U.S. in laying out its longer economic goals as the world’s two largest economies engage in a trade war. “Preparation and planning are the hallmarks of winning a war,” Scaramucci said in a “Squawk Box” interview.
Meet the Hedge Fund Manager Rooting for Elizabeth Warren in 2020 (CNN Business)
New York (CNN Business) Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass is no fan of Elizabeth Warren’s populist platform. He calls her proposed wealth tax unconstitutional. Still, he’s hoping she is the Democrats’ presidential nominee and wins the White House in 2020. Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, told CNN Business in an interview this week that he would “immediately” vote for Warren because of her tough stance on China’s human rights and trade record. “Warren would be a problem for China,” said Bass, who is a longtime vocal critic of China.
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Assured Guaranty to Buy BlueMountain Capital for $160 Million (The Wall Street Journal)
Assured Guaranty Ltd.’s U.S. subsidiary has agreed to pay $160 million for credit-focused alternative asset manager BlueMountain Capital Management, the companies said late Wednesday. The deal will consist of at least $114.8 million in cash with the remainder as a mix of cash and Assured stock, according to a news release.
Hedge Funds Turn Most Bearish Since 2016, Hone Stock Bets (Bloomberg)
As stocks whipsawed over the past week, hedge funds took a stance that’s hard to frame as bullish, intensifying bets against the market and limited long positions to a shrinking group of companies. The ratio of hedge funds’ long to short positions, known as net leverage, sank to the lowest level since February 2016, data compiled by Morgan Stanley’s prime brokerage unit showed. At the same time, gross leverage, a gauge of risk appetite that adds up both long and short positions, remained above the 75th percentile since 2010.
Deloitte Sues Hedge Fund Manager Jeremy Leach Over Life Settlements Fund Liquidation (Opalesque.com)
Deloitte & Touche is suing hedge fund manager Jeremy Leach, associate William McClintock, and several other entities for $17.8 million in damages over allegedly fraudulent fees and other transactions related to Leach’s Traded Life Policies Fund. Deloitte was tasked with managing the voluntary liquidation of the fund in 2017. The case is before the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. News of the lawsuit first was reported by OffshoreAlert. This isn’t the first time Leach has been in the news for failed life settlement funds. Leach was previously involved with Shepards Select, a life settlements investment firm that collapsed after its sole broker of insurance policies was suspended by regulators in 2004.
Almost Half of Large Hedge Fund Managers See AUM Decline in 2018 – Report (Pensions&Investments)
Close to half – 46% – of the 200 largest hedge fund managers experienced a material decline in regulatory assets under management in 2018 compared to the prior year, research from law firm Seward & Kissel showed. Analysis of the managers’ 2017 and 2018 Form ADV submissions to the Securities and Exchange Commission found 74% of equity managers experienced declines in regulatory AUM in 2018, 14% did not see a large change in assets, while 12% had significant gains from 2017.
