Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman’s Latest Big Bet (The Street)
Pershing Square‘s Bill Ackman isn’t shy about making controversial bets. The long-time hedge fund manager’s questioning of mortgage-backed collateral debt obligations led to him shorting Municipal Bond Insurance Association Inc. before the Great Recession, profiting him handsomely. He also became a household name when he shorted Herbalife, calling it a pyramid scheme, a trade that didn’t pan out. More recently, he made billions when he bought protection against his stocks before stocks swooned because of COVID in 2020, then billions more when he switched gears, buying stocks at significantly depressed prices during the crisis.
Tiger Global Builds Big Stake in Apollo in Shift from Tech Bets – FT (Reuters)
Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global has built a big stake in private equity firm Apollo Global as the hedge fund looks outside of technology investments in a hunt for better returns, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The investment in Apollo, which Tiger described as a “leading global alternative investment manager”, was revealed to investors in a mid-year letter, the report said, without disclosing the size of the stake. Tiger Global amassed the stake this year and has also “selectively added” other new holdings in the aerospace and healthcare sectors, the report said.
Hedge Fund Performance in July was Muted. But Citadel Distanced Itself from Point72, Millennium, and Other Competitors (Business Insider)
Top multi-strategy hedge funds trailed the stock market in July. Citadel led the pack, gaining 1.3% last month and pushing its 2023 tally to 8.6%. Verition bested most of its peers, gaining 1.2% in July. It’s up 4.1% for the year. The doldrums of summer are approaching, but the stock market has continued its hot streak. The S&P 500 gained another 3.1% in July, amid buoyant earnings and economic expectations and pushed its year-to-date return to nearly 20%.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Activist Third Point Reduces Single-Name Short Positions (Hedge Week)
A “much more challenging” short-selling environment has prompted activist hedge funds Third Point to cut back on the number of single-name short positions it holds in its portfolio, according to a report by Seeking Alpha. The report cites Third Point CEO and Chief Investment Officer Dan Loeb as writing in an investor letter sent to clients this week that: “While we have not abandoned short selling, we continue to reduce our single name short exposure in favour of market hedges and short baskets.”
Investment Funds and Asset Management Market in Poland, 2022-2024 (ResearchAndMarkets)
Investment Funds and Asset Management Market in Poland 2022-2024 provides a comprehensive overview of investment funds and asset management sector in Poland. The analysis covers three main pillars of the market including mutual funds, insurance, and pension assets. The report includes also a mid-term forecast of critical volumes for the period 2022-2024. Market Outlook: The total value of assets under management is expected to recover in 2023 and then to grow subsequently in 2024 and 2025.
Carnival, Royal Caribbean: Hedge Funds Hit for $6bn as Cruise Firms Stay Afloat (ProActiveInvestors.co.uk)
Hedge funds have faced over $6 billion in losses this year by betting against US cruise lines and hotels, underestimating the resilience of American consumers, according to the Financial Times. Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL), two of the S&P 500’s most heavily shorted companies, have more than doubled in value this year, defying short sellers’ expectations.
Crypto Hedge Funds Are Being Hit by Shutdowns, Lagging Returns in 2023 (Bloomberg)
About 13% of crypto hedge funds have shut down so far this year, as weak performance and difficulties in accessing banking services weighed on the industry, according to data tracked by Switzerland-based investment adviser 21e6 Capital AG. Crypto funds on average generated 15.2% return in the first half of 2023, underperforming Bitcoin, which gained 83.3% over the same period, the data provided to Bloomberg News showed.
Hedge Fund Trader Sanjay Shah Seeks to Block Extradition to Denmark (GG2.net)
Sanjay Shah, a British hedge fund trader accused of masterminding a $1.8 billion dividend-tax fraud, is attempting to overturn a decision to extradite him from Dubai to face criminal charges in Denmark, a London court heard on Thursday (3). Nigel Jones, a lawyer for Shah and linked defendants in a complex, parallel civil case brought by Denmark’s tax authority in London, told the High Court that Shah had launched an appeal – but that a decision had been repeatedly deferred since June 6.
BNP Paribas’ Head of GBP Trading Quietly Quit for a Hedge Fund (eFinancialCareers.com)
Rates trading revenues may have softened, but senior rates traders are still moving around. BNP Paribas London G10 rates trading team has been hit by some significant departures. Ioana Scripcaru, BNP’s London head of GBP trading, is among the exits. Neither BNP nor Scripcaru responded to requests to comment, but it’s understood that she left a few weeks ago and is joining the buy-side.
Friday 8/4 Insider Buying Report: ULH, INZY (Nasdaq.com)
At Universal Logistics Holdings (ULH), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Tuesday, Matthew T. Moroun purchased 14,303,973 shares of ULH, at a cost of $24.62 each, for a total investment of $352.1M. Moroun was up about 35.3% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with ULH trading as high as $33.30 in trading on Friday. Universal Logistics Holdings is trading up about 1.3% on the day Friday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Moroun in the past year. And also on Tuesday, Robert Lorne Hopfner purchased $4M worth of Inozyme Pharma (INZY), purchasing 833,333 shares at a cost of $4.80 each. Before this latest buy, Hopfner bought INZY on 2 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $2.40M at an average of $4.35 per share. Inozyme Pharma is trading up about 7.3% on the day Friday. So far Hopfner is in the green, up about 9.2% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $5.24.
Over $2M Bet On Akero Therapeutics? Check Out These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Akero Therapeutics: The Trade: Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (AKRO) Director Walmsley Graham acquired a total of 55,000 shares an average price of $42.95. To acquire these shares, it cost around $2.36 million. The Bancorp: The Trade: The Bancorp, Inc. (TBBK) Director Matthew Cohn bought a total of 5,868 shares at an average price of $37.61. To acquire these shares, it cost around $220,688.
