Toscafund Leads USD25m Growth Equity Investment in VoxSmart (Hedge Week)
Toscafund, the multi asset fund management group, has become the leading shareholder in VoxSmart, the communications surveillance software provider, by investing USD25 million of growth capital to enable the business to continue its rapid growth trajectory. This is the seventh investment that Toscafund has made in high-growth European financial services businesses since 2018 and brings the total the firm has invested in the sector to more than USD700 million. Recent investments include Plurimi Wealth and Socium in the UK, LIQID and Elinvar in Germany, Caravela in Portugal, and Lemonway in France. Toscafund is a specialist investor in this space, where it believes there are now significant opportunities. Earlier successful investments have included OakNorth, Aldermore Bank, Atom Bank and Esure.
SkyBridge’s Scaramucci files to launch bitcoin ETF with First Trust Advisors (Reuters)
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) – Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has jumped into the fray for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund with his SkyBridge Capital joining forces with First Trust Advisors, according to a filing here with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the filing, the “First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust” will seek to buy and sell bitcoin “so that the total value of the bitcoin held by the Trust is as close to 100% of the net assets of the Trust as is reasonably practicable to achieve.”
Lone Pine Veteran Eisenstein Starts Hedge Fund With $350 Million (Bloomberg)
Lone Pine Capital veteran Paul Eisenstein has started his own hedge fund with about $350 million. Vetamer Capital Management, which launched in January, invests in public and private financial-technology companies, according to people familiar with the matter. They include digital-commerce, insurance-technology and cryptocurrency-infrastructure firms.
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Leon Black to Leave Apollo Sooner Than Expected (The New York Times)
Leon Black, the Wall Street billionaire who was the main client of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein for the last decade of his life, is stepping down as chief executive of Apollo Global Management, several months ahead of schedule. Mr. Black also will give up the chairmanship of the private equity firm, which he helped found roughly three decades ago, the firm said in a statement on Monday. Jay Clayton, the former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman who recently joined the firm as an independent director, will take his place.
ESG Disclosure Rules From Europe Challenge U.S. Fund Managers (The Wall Street Journal)
Scores of U.S. fund managers are being forced to comply with sweeping new European rules on climate and other sustainable-finance issues, requiring them to disclose the potential harm their investments could do to the environment and society. Fund companies including Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp. that sell investment products in the European Union come under the new rules that took effect this month, though details are still being finalized.
Exclusive: Box Explores Sale Amid Pressure from Starboard – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – U.S. cloud services provide Box Inc is exploring a sale amid pressure from hedge fund Starboard Value LP over its stock performance, according to people familiar with the matter. Redwood City, California-based Box has discussed a potential deal with interested buyers, including other companies and private equity firms, the sources said, cautioning that no sale of the company is certain.
Can Market Euphoria Last? (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – The U.S. ten-year Treasury yield has topped 1.7 percent, reaching its highest level in over a year amid signs of optimism in an economic comeback and heightened inflation fears. The rapid rise in bond yields may be spooking stock market participants. After all, the higher rates go, the lower the present value of the streams of future cash flows. “Tech stocks whose share prices have been fueled by low interest rates have taken a beating in the past month, with popular investor Cathie Woods seeing her flagship Ark Innovation ETF drop as much as 30 percent from the top before a rebound caused the price to recover somewhat,” Anna Svahn (pictured), co-founder of multi-strategy, multi-asset hedge fund Antiloop Hedge, writes in a column on Omni Ekonomi. “Despite the fact that the warnings were many, it is still unclear when the stock market backs down. Is the party over now?”
Odey Was Cleared of Sexual Assault. Now Other Accusations Emerge (Bloomberg)
For years, Crispin Odey has been tabloid fodder for everything from his support of Brexit to his conspicuous lifestyle. He’s sparked outrage shorting the pound. He’s been mocked for his predictions of doom in the midst of the longest bull market in history. Yet even for Britain’s most visible hedge fund manager, the recent public scrutiny has been blistering. The 62-year-old has been battling accusations that he sexually assaulted a young banker more than two decades ago after inviting her back to his apartment.
Alcur is Reinforcing (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Swedish asset manager Alcur Fonder has recruited Petter Mattsson as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mattsson joins Alcur Fonder from Fondbolagens förening, the Swedish Investment Fund Association. “Petter joins as the company’s COO and will work with operational and legal issues at ALCUR FONDER,” writes the Stockholm-based asset manager in an announcement. “We are very happy that Petter has chosen to work with us. Warm welcome Petter!” Mattsson joins Alcur Fonder from Fondbolagens förening, where he worked as a lawyer focused on a number of different issues related to UCITS, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), and Sustainable Finance.
Insider Trading: March 22, 2021 (BIV.com)
Insider Barbara Hislop, director. Company: Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP). Shares owned: 1,080,861. Trade date: March 8. Trade total: $4,491,854. Trade: Sale of 168,800 shares at prices from $26.60 to $26.70 per share. Insider Pierre Lassonde, 10% owner. Company: Rubicon Organics Inc. (TSX-V:ROMJ). Shares owned: 3,677,674. Trade date: March 8, 9. Trade total: $1,825,000. Trade: Acquisition of 600,000 shares at prices from $3.00 to $3.05 per share.
The Past Week’s Notable Insider Buys Include Coupang, Keurig Dr Pepper, IPOs And More (Benzinga)
Prometheus Biosciences Inc (RXDX) saw several insiders, including 10% owners, directors and an officer, acquire over $54.23 million worth of shares last week. That was more than 2.85 million shares of this San Diego-based biotech at the initial public offering price of $19 per share. A beneficial owner at pharmaceutical company Innoviva Inc (INVA) stepped up to the buy window midweek. That owner indirectly added more than 4.85 million shares to its stake, bringing it to over 6.15 million. At prices that averaged $3.25 per share, the transaction totaled nearly $13.93 million. A group of directors and executives took advantage of a public offering of Merchants Bancorp (MBIN) stock. Altogether, they purchased 202,400 shares of this Indiana-based bank holding company. At $25 per share, that added up around $5.06 million. The bank has hiked its dividend as well.
Coupa Software Inc (COUP) CEO Robert Bernshteyn Sold $12.7 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Coupa Software Inc, Robert Bernshteyn, sold 50,000 shares of COUP on 03/17/2021 at an average price of $254.29 a share. The total sale was $12.7 million. Coupa Software Inc is a US-based firm that offers spend management solutions through the Software-as-a-Service business model. The company primarily offers cloud-based spend management platforms through various applications to its clients.
Fake Insider Trading Is Illegal Too (Bloomberg)
Fake insider trading: Let’s say that you are on the dark web looking for material nonpublic information about public companies, as one does on the dark web. You encounter a guy. He tells you that his name is “MillionaireMike” and he has a hot tip about a company. “This is from my buddy on the inside,” he tells you. You are intrigued. You arrange a small test trade. It works; things look promising. “Okay,” you say, “I will trade on your inside information, and we’ll split the profits.” MillionaireMike comes to you with a can’t-miss tip.
The Chairman of Liberty Gold (Other OTC: LGDTF) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the Chairman of Liberty Gold (LGDTF), Mark Gerard O’dea, sold shares of LGDTF for $476.5K. In addition to Mark Gerard O’dea, 2 other LGDTF executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Currently, Liberty Gold has an average volume of 178.75K. The company has a one-year high of $1.82 and a one-year low of $0.42. The Company has a Price to Book ratio of 7.62.
