Investor Ackman Opposes United Technologies’ Aerospace Merger with Raytheon: Source (Reuters)
(Reuters) – William Ackman’s activist hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP is opposed to United Technologies Corp’s $120 billion aerospace merger with defense contractor Raytheon Co, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Pershing Square wrote to United Technologies’ board to express its concerns about the deal, the source said. The hedge fund argued that the merger would distract from the company’s strategy of being nimble and focused, the source added.
Jeff Talpins’s Element Disbands Group of Non-Core Managers (Bloomberg)
Jeff Talpins’s hedge fund Element Capital Management is dismissing seven portfolio managers as it refocuses on its main macro strategy, according to people familiar with the matter. The managers were part of a program the New York-based firm started about five years ago that oversaw non-core parts of the portfolio, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The amount of money they oversaw was a small portion of Element’s $18 billion, the people said. A representative for the firm declined to comment.
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Nordic Equity HFs Give Up Gains (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Last month, Nordic equity hedge funds gave up some of this year’s gains as increased trade tensions sent equity markets sinking. Equity hedge funds, as expressed by the NHX Equities, were down 1.3 percent last month on average (89 percent reported), trimming the year-to-date gain to 3.7 percent. Nordic hedge funds outperformed both local and global equity markets last month. Nordic equities, as expressed by the VINX All-share index, delivered a negative net return of 5.2 percent in Euro terms.
Viking Co-CIO to Exit Hedge Fund After a Decade (Bloomberg)
Viking Global Investors co-Chief Investment Officer Ben Jacobs is said to be leaving the hedge fund after a decade. Bloomberg’s Sonali Basak reports on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Founder Andy Redleaf leaving Mpls-based Whitebox Advisors in August (Star Tribune)
Andy Redleaf, founding partner and former CEO of Minneapolis hedge fund Whitebox Advisors, plans to leave the firm in August after 20 years, according to a letter sent this month to clients. Redleaf, who is selling his majority interest to partners, declined to comment on his departure. Redleaf, who eventually made clients and himself untold millions for the right call early on the falling mortgage market in 2007-09, declined to comment on his departure.
A Watchdog Says Hedge-Fund Secrets Kept by the CFTC Are Vulnerable to Hacking (Bloomberg)
Confidential market information collected from hedge funds and brokers by the main U.S. derivatives regulator is vulnerable to hacking because of the agency’s outdated computer systems, according to an internal watchdog. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission needs to correct “numerous weaknesses” in the way it manages and stores data, the inspector general’s office said in an audit report released late last week. The review also said the CFTC needs to rebuild or replace a key, but antiquated, database of confidential trading positions that it uses to police futures and options markets.
Hedge Fund Managers Posted Minor Losses in May Amidst US-China Trade Tension (Hedge Week)
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index slumped 0.63 per cent in May as hedge fund managers struggled to generate returns during the risk-off month. The Trump administration’s decision to raise tariffs on USD200 billion of Chinese imports signalled the escalation of the trade conflict between the US and China, leading to retaliatory tariffs from the other side. The worsening global economic outlook pushed global equities into the red for the month, as indicated by the 6.12 per cent decline posted by the MSCI ACWI (Local).
