Hedge Fund Titans Aurelius and Elliott Clash in Distressed Deal (Bloomberg)
Years after leaving the New York-based hedge fund Elliott Management Corp., Mark Brodsky often found the firm he later started, Aurelius Capital Management, aligned with his old employer. The two fought side by side in many high-profile trades including a grueling, decade-long battle with Argentina over defaulted bonds. But now Brodsky finds himself at odds with Elliott — and his former boss there, Paul Singer — in a new controversial default saga. This one centers on Windstream Holdings Inc., a U.S. telecom company that suddenly sank into default last month after Judge Jesse Furman ruled in favor of Aurelius’s lawsuit against the company for breaking bond covenants.
DoubleLine Publishes a New Paper on Active Asset Allocation (MarketWatch)
LOS ANGELES, March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — In a new paper posted on DoubleLine.com, Ryan Kimmel reviews the history of the differentiated performance of stocks, Treasuries, corporate credit and commodities in different stages of the business cycle and inflation environments and then explains how DoubleLine Capital uses this perspective to allocate portfolios under its Multi-Asset Growth investment strategy.
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Where Carl Icahn Went Wrong (Institutional Investor)
The activist won the battle for Newell Brands — but so far isn’t winning the war. Carl Icahn’s big win with consumer products company Newell Brands has been nothing short of a Pyrrhic victory.Last year, Icahn thwarted an activist proxy contest by activist hedge fund firm Starboard Value by promising Newell CEO Michael Polk he could keep his job, according to people familiar with the situation.
Head of Top Hedge Fund Association to Step Down (TheHill)
Former House lawmaker Richard Baker, who has led the Managed Funds Association (MFA) for more than a decade, announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of the year. MFA, which represents the hedge fund industry, said its board will soon begin the process of selecting Baker’s successor. The former Louisiana Republican served in the House from 1987 to 2008 before joining MFA. “The financial crisis dominated my first year at MFA. It also set the stage for a sweeping revamp of our financial regulatory structure. From the first meetings about the Dodd-Frank Act until now, I have been proud to lead an exceptional team which, without fanfare, effectively advances the interests of our members and their investors,” Baker said in a speech announcing his retirement.
Eric Schmidt Does Not Share His Beautiful Women With Hedge Fund Managers (DealBreaker)
Eric Schmidt’s got $13 billion. Atlantic Investment Management founder Alex Roeper’s hedge fund merely manages about a fifth of that. So forgive him if he can’t quite understand his girlfriend’s infatuation with another substantially less-well-endowed man—and a hedge fund manager at that, just like her ex-husband. Page Six has learned that married Alphabet Inc. chairman and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt dumped glamorous divorcée Ulla Parker because he got tired of her simultaneously dating hedgie Alex Roepers.
Pzena Investment Management Opts for IHS Markit’s EDM (HedgeWeek.com)
Pzena Investment Management, a USD37 billion equity manager based in New York, is to implement IHS Markit’s Enterprise Data Management (EDM) solution. The firm will be using EDM to master securities and issuers and will also leverage the solution as a data hub for prices, accounts and other entities in the future. “Following an internal data and operations review, we decided that it was the right time to invest in an enterprise data management solution,” says Evan Fire, Chief Information & Operations Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Pzena Investment Management. “We conducted a review of several EDM providers before selecting IHS Markit due to their ability to meet all of our unique needs and their established presence in the North American market.”
Energy Investor HITE Dangles No-Fee Offer (HFAlert.com)
Energy-focused HITE Hedge Asset Management is offering the ultimate fee discount for its latest hedge fund. Investors whose contributions are among the first $25 million received by the HITE Carbon Offset fund would pay no management or performance fees for five years. Those who remain invested after that point would pay fees equal to 1% of assets and 20% of profits. HITE Carbon Offset, which launched in June 2018, represents a bet by the Boston manager that the world will “decarbonize” more quickly than expected, punishing the shares of carbon-reliant businesses along the way. It’s a niche strategy for which HITE so far has raised just $6 million. The no-fee offer is designed to boost assets to the point where the fund would be fair game for smaller institutional investors.
