Activist Blackwells Sues GNL, Necessity Retail Over Board Dispute (Reuters)
Blackwells Capital, a hedge fund seeking to replace some of the board directors at Global Net Lease Inc and Necessity Retail REIT Inc, told Reuters on Monday it has filed a lawsuit against the real estate companies after being blocked from putting its own board nominees forward. Blackwells wants both companies to replace AR Global, the external manager of their properties, over what it argues are high costs and poor performance. It wants to nominate two directors at each company to ratchet up the pressure on them. The lawsuit filed on Monday in Maryland state court accuses the real estate investment trusts (REITs) of using recently amended bylaws to block Blackwells’ nominees and reserve the board seats for AR Global.
Toronto Hedge Fund Vivid Capital Surges 39% on Lithium Bets (Bloomberg)
Vivid Capital Management Inc., a small Canadian hedge fund, has returned 39% this year through November with bets on the lithium sector. Toronto-based Vivid, a relatively young firm that manages less than C$50 million ($36.5 million), runs a single fund with a primary focus on energy-transition investments.
Hedge Fund Bets Against Hong Kong’s Dollar Peg Have a Long History—and Little Success (The Wall Street Journal)
When Bill Ackman revealed last month that he was betting the Hong Kong dollar’s peg to the greenback would break, he became the latest in a long line of speculators who have made similar wagers. Nobody has hit the jackpot. Hedge funds have made bets against the longstanding currency peg going back to the Asian financial crisis. High-profile fund managers including Crispin Odey and Kyle Bass are among those who have previously taken positions that the peg couldn’t last. Mr. Ackman’s fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, even once made a bet from the opposite side more than a decade ago. Boaz Weinstein, the founder of Saba Capital Management LP, is betting alongside him this time.
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Everyone Wants to be an Activist Investor These Days. Insiders Like Carl Icahn Lay Out Why It’s Not as Easy as it Looks (Business Insider)
Carl Icahn had a textbook strategy for the Nevada-based energy utility Southwest Gas Holdings. The legendary activist investor purchased almost 5% of the company’s shares in late 2021 and publicly assailed its leadership, winning four of its 11 board seats, the ouster of its chief executive, and an internal review that considered a sale of the utility.
AQR Turns to UK Judge in LME Battle (Hedge Week)
AQR Capital Management is among a group of hedge funds and other traders who have asked a British judge to force the London Metal Exchange (LME) to hand over phone transcripts and meeting notes about its decision to cancel nickel trades in March of this year, according to a report by Reuters. The LME cancelled trades worth billions of dollars on the back of a spike in the price of nickel which it said led to “significant losses” for market participants. The report cites Paul McGrath, a lawyer for AQR-led group which also includes Winton Capital Management, Capstone Investment Advisors, Flow Traders and DRW Commodities, as saying it is difficult to understand why his clients can not have access to documents that would further explain the LME’s actions.
Michael Burry’s Warning for Investors: Hedge Funds and C-suites Weekly (Investing.com)
Here is your weekly roundup of the biggest news out of hedge funds and company top brass, all first covered on InvestingPro+. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AVAH), whose stock has fallen 89% year to date, said it was appointing a new CEO – current COO Jeff Shaner – and that current CEO Tony Strange would retire at the end of the year. Shaner said, “I am looking forward to this new leadership role as CEO and further building on the rock-solid commitment we have to clinical excellence and value creation here at Aveanna.” Shares were up 6.9% for the week.
Bigger Was Better In 2022: Global Hedge-Fund Industry Sees Split (FA-mag.com)
A handful of giant firms are gaining dominance over the hottest corners of the hedge fund industry. This year showed why. While nearly all hedge fund indexes are negative, a closer look at the data shows that multi-strategy and macro funds with the biggest concentration of investors’ cash posted gains, shielding clients from a ferocious selloff in global markets as central banks began raising rates and rolling back years of quantitative easing. Giants from Citadel to Millennium Management produced double-digit gains as their army of traders once again earned steady returns. Those betting on macro economic trends, such as $5 billion Haidar Capital and $15.5 billion Rokos Capital Management, are poised for record annual gains.
Thursday 12/15 Insider Buying Report: PRTS, BHIL (Nasdaq.com)
At CarParts.com, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Director Jim Barnes purchased 24,600 shares of PRTS, for a cost of $6.12 each, for a total investment of $150,552. So far Barnes is in the green, up about 8.8% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $6.66. CarParts.com is trading up about 5.3% on the day Thursday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Barnes in the past twelve months. And on Monday, Chief Financial Officer Dean P. Freeman bought $150,029 worth of Benson Hill, buying 59,230 shares at a cost of $2.53 each. Before this latest buy, Freeman made one other buy in the past year, purchasing $168,500 shares at a cost of $3.37 a piece. Benson Hill is trading down about 2.5% on the day Thursday.
$10 Million Bet On Dyne Therapeutics? Check Out These 4 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Dyne Therapeutics: The Trade: Dyne Therapeutics, Inc. (DYN) Director Jason Rhodes acquired a total of 934,581 shares at an average price of $10.70. To acquire these shares, it cost around $10 million. Harrow Health: The Trade: Harrow Health, Inc. (HROW) 10% owner Opaleye Management Inc bought a total 431,183 shares at an average price of $10.52. The insider spent around $4.54 million to buy those shares.
SEC Probes PLDT Shares Selloff for Possible Insider Trading (Inquirer.net)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered an investigation of possible insider trading related to PLDT Inc.’s disclosure of a P48- billion “budget overrun” covering several years. “The reported ‘budget overruns’, as well as the selloff in PLDT shares before the publicly listed company could make the official disclosure, are areas of concern for the Commission, being the regulator of the securities market and the champion of investor protection in the country,” the corporate regulator said in a statement on Monday.
