Hedge Fund Billionaire Bill Ackman Says Hindenburg’s Report about India’s Adani Group is ‘Highly Credible’ (Financial News)
Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman said Hindenburg Research’s report about Gautam Adani’s corporate empire Adani Group is “highly credible” and “extremely well-researched”. In a 27 January post on Twitter, Ackman backed the 24 January report from the New York-based activist short-selling firm founded by Nathan Anderson. Ackman’s public response marks the first time since publication that a major finance figure has opined on the Hindenburg report, which flagged substantial debt at companies within the $218bn Indian conglomerate Adani Group. The report also highlighted the company’s use of an offshore shell network for alleged earnings manipulation.
Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Funds Tumbled 39% Last Year on Wrong-Way FTX, Crypto Bets (Bloomberg)
Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital lost 39% last year in its biggest funds after wrong-way bets on cryptocurrencies and now-bankrupt FTX, spurring investors to ask the firm to return more than half of their money. SkyBridge’s largest fund, with $1.3 billion of assets at the end of the third quarter, had one of its worst months of 2022 in November, when FTX declared bankruptcy, according to people familiar with its performance.
This Energy Hedge Fund Returned More Than 200% Last Year (The Wall Street Journal)
Hedge-fund managers that could successfully navigate last year’s volatile commodity markets were rewarded with outsize returns. A fund run by Houston-based Skylar Capital Management, founded by veteran natural-gas trader Bill Perkins, was up about 208% last year, according to fund documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The energy-focused firm now manages about $500 million in assets.
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K2 Advisors Raises Conviction on Private ILS, Cat Bonds, Retro Investing (Artemis.bm)
K2 Advisors, the hedge fund focused investment management unit of Franklin Templeton, has become even more constructive on the insurance-linked securities (ILS) asset class, seeing near record high catastrophe bond spreads, as well as improved conditions in private ILS, retrocession and industry loss warranties (ILW’s). K2 Advisors has been getting increasingly constructive on the ILS market through recent quarters, with the catastrophe bond its preferred and most recommended area of the asset class.
Dozen Hedge Funds Eye Bonanza as Rogers-Shaw Deal Nears Close (Reuters)
As one of Canada’s most bitterly contested acquisitions nears the finish line, a dozen hedge funds including Citadel and Millennium Management are heaving a sigh of relief and sitting on profit of more than C$216 million ($162 million) on paper after a nearly two-year roller coaster ride. Prospects for Rogers Communications Inc’s (RCIb.TO) C$20 billion bid for Shaw Communications Inc (SJRb.TO) brightened after Canada’s competition bureau this week dropped plans to block the deal. While the Canadian government still has the final say, most analysts and competition lawyers expect the deal to clear the last hurdle and close by the Jan. 31 deadline.
No Holding Back on Chinese Stocks as Hedge Funds Buy While BlackRock Says Market is Unprepared for Nasty Surprises (SCMP.com)
China’s onshore stocks have mostly been a bummer in the first quarter as they stumbled in seven of the past 10 years, with its worst showing in 2022. Investors appear to be throwing caution to the wind this year. The CSI 300 Index of industry leaders has risen 8 per cent this year, backed by a chorus of bullish calls from strategists at Wall Street banks. China’s zero-Covid pivot from late November has lifted many of yesteryear’s losers, while global funds are buying local equities at a record pace this month.
Hedge Funds’ European Stock Binge Masks Bearish Retreat (Reuters)
Hedge funds in January have snapped up the most European stocks compared to U.S. equities for 20 years, but investment bank research published this week signaled this could be more of a bear retreat than a bull run. Much of the buying was by algorithm-driven funds that unwound their previous bearish bets on European equities, according to a JPMorgan note published this week and seen by Reuters on Friday.
Ken Griffin Kicks in $3M to Miami-Dade Fund for Housing, Other Initiatives (The Real Deal)
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is kicking in $3 million to a new fund that will grant money to companies that can solve issues in housing and other sectors. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the commitment at her State of the County address on Wednesday evening. Griffin, founder and CEO of the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel, has become increasingly philanthropic locally as he prepares to move the company and its sister firm, Citadel Securities, to South Florida.
Friday 1/27 Insider Buying Report: FFIN, HSON (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, First Financial Bankshares’ Director, Johnny Trotter, made a $102,150 purchase of FFIN, buying 3,000 shares at a cost of $34.05 a piece. Trotter was up about 2.3% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with FFIN trading as high as $34.85 at last check today. First Financial Bankshares is trading up about 1.2% on the day Friday. Before this latest buy, Trotter purchased FFIN on 8 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $1.09M at an average of $41.57 per share. And also on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey E. Eberwein purchased $43,321 worth of Hudson Global, purchasing 1,704 shares at a cost of $25.42 a piece.
$30M Bet On Deciphera Pharmaceuticals? Check Out These 4 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals: The Trade: Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (DCPH) 10% owner Brightstar Associates LLC acquired a total of 1,666,666 shares at an average price of $18.00. To acquire these shares, it cost around $30 million. Fulcrum Therapeutics: The Trade: Fulcrum Therapeutics, Inc. (FULC) 10% owner Rajeev Shah bought a total of 1,923,076 shares at an average price of $13.00. To acquire these shares, it cost around $25 million.
What the SEC’s New Insider Trading Rules Mean for Directors (Lexology.com)
Takeaways: New SEC rules on Rule 10b5-1 preset trading plans for insiders add lengthy “cooling-off periods” for directors and officers between the time they establish a plan and the date a first trade can be made. Most multiple overlapping plans and single-trade plans are now prohibited. The good faith requirement has been expanded and directors and executives will now have to certify when they create or modify a plan that they are acting in good faith and have no material nonpublic information. Companies will be required to disclose individuals’ 10b5-1 plans in detail every quarter, and itemize annually all options awarded to top executives around the time of significant SEC filings.
