AQR Capital Management Establishes Office in Germany (HedgeWeek)
AQR Capital Management (AQR) has established an office in Frankfurt, Germany. “We are excited to open our Frankfurt office and broaden our footprint in Europe,” says David G Kabiller, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at AQR. “We believe that a local presence will allow us to better serve our existing German clients and deliver our diverse platform of quantitative strategies to investors.” AQR’s expansion into Germany is supported by a dedicated local team led by Axel Weiss, PhD, Managing Director and Head of Germany and Austria Business Development. AQR’s German team will collaborate closely with its London office to augment AQR’s European presence.
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Says Tesla ‘on the Brink’ of Failure – Client Letter (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital renewed criticism of Elon Musk and his Tesla Inc, saying the electric car company again appeared to be on the “brink” of failure, according to a letter sent to clients of the hedge fund on Friday. The letter cited a lack of demand, “desperate” price cuts, layoffs, “closing-and-then-not-closing” stores, closing service centers, slashing capital expenditures, rushed product announcements and “a new effort to distract investors from the demand problem with hyperbole over TSLA’s autonomous driving capabilities.”
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Hedge Funds Fretting U.S. Stock Doom Have Nimble Counter-Plan (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds are snubbing broad bets on the stock melt-up and shifting to market-neutral strategies, according to Nomura Holdings Inc., underscoring the skepticism dogging this gravity-defying bull run. Fast-money exposure to U.S. equities has plunged to the lowest since 2013, according to an estimate of the portion of their returns attributable to the S&P 500 Index. Other data show the ratio of bullish bets to bearish ones near the lowest in more than a year.
Soros-Backed Hedge Fund CJW Shelves Plans for Launch (The Wall Street Journal)
A deal by Soros Fund Management to invest in a new hedge fund has fallen apart, according to people familiar with the matter. London trader Chris Wheeler left hedge-fund Citadel LLC and millions in deferred compensation in 2018 to launch CJW Capital Management. That launch was based on the strength of an agreement he had with billionaire investor George Soros’s family office, the people said.
Kingstown Capital Management Files RICO Suit Against Czech Oligarch Over $1bn Fraud (Opalesque.com)
$1.4 billion hedge fund Kingstown Capital and Czech investment firm Investhold, have filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit against billionaire Radovan Vitek, a Czech real estate mogul with business interests throughout Europe, alleging that he used a series of shell companies to defraud investors of approximately $1 billion. Vitek is the indirect owner of CPI PG a Czech real estate firm that manages a €7 billion portfolio throughout Europe. CPI PG is the largest commercial real estate landlord in Berlin, Germany and has a significant presence in the Czech Republic.
Specialty Insurer Argo Fires Back at Activist Hedge Fund (San Antonio Express News)
Argo Group International Holdings is firing back at a San Francisco activist hedge fund waging a proxy fight against the specialty insurer. In a letter to shareholders today, Bermuda-based Argo’s board asked for their support “to prevent the short-term interests” of Voce Capital Management from “disrupting the steady growth and superior shareholder returns” the insurer – which has its U.S. headquarters in San Antonio – has generated.
A $74 billion Megamerger Just Got One Step Closer to Closing (Business Insider)
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s shareholders voted to approve the drugmaker’s $74 billion takeover of biotech Celgene Corp on Friday despite a campaign by activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP to scuttle the deal. The company said investors holding 75.7 percent of its shares had voted in favor of the deal in a preliminary count. Celgene said separately in a statement that its shareholders representing more than 70 percent of its shares outstanding who were entitled to vote, voted in favor of the transaction.
