Boaz Weinstein’s Hedge Fund Dealt Blow in Neuberger Berman Battle (The Wall Street Journal)
Boaz Weinstein’s hedge fund Saba Capital Management LP faced a setback in its wrangle with Neuberger Berman Group LLC for more power over its investment in one of Neuberger’s funds. In a battle with potentially high stakes that could give investors more say in vehicles called closed-end funds, Saba Capital proposed changes that shareholders voted on last week.
The Master of Robots Left AQR. Now He’s Coming for Wall Street (Bloomberg)
The man dubbed the world’s top quant has a message for Wall Street firms lavishing millions on machine-learning programs: Most of you are doing it wrong. Robots could save active money managers from doom but the technology is struggling to live up to the disruptive promise, according to Marcos Lopez de Prado. The Spaniard spent years at the storied names of smart-money finance in his bid to shake up investing with self-learning robots. Now he’s travelling across quantland to deliver a reality check — selling his algorithms and expertise to all comers after an unexpected split from AQR Capital Management LLC this summer.
Luis Louro / shutterstock.com
State’s Education Partnership with Hedge Fund Billionaire Ray Dalio Opens First Meeting to Public, But Transparency Questions Persist (Hartford Courant)
The Partnership for Connecticut has invited the public to the first “organizational meeting” of its governing board on Oct. 18, but it’s unclear what portion of that meeting – or subsequent meetings – will be open, or what the board will be discussing. The new partnership and its board – a private, non-profit organization created to carry out a public-private collaboration between the state and Dalio Philanthropies – has been the subject of controversy since lawmakers exempted it from state disclosure and ethics rules even though taxpayer money is being used in the endeavor.
Sears Bankruptcy Case Reaches ‘Good Luck Suing Eddie Lampert’ Phase (Deal Breaker)
The hollowed-out husk that once was Sears does not have enough money to exit bankruptcy and finally, at long last, liquidate and die. In fact, it might be more than $100 million short of the cash it needs to pay off its creditors. No matter. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain is as sick of this crap as the rest of us, and at least some of Sears’ creditors.
We Talked to 24 People About the Hedge-fund Wunderkind at Elliott Who Wants to Shake Up AT&T. Here’s Why Management Should be Terrified (Business Insider)
Jesse Cohn has been behind some of the ugliest shareholder tussles and boardroom battles in history during his 15 years at Paul Singer‘s Elliott Management. His strategy of purchasing stock en masse and then demanding an overhaul of a company’s business has provoked f-bombs from the Detroit businessman Peter Karmanos and paranoia from Athenahealth founder Jonathan Bush — the cousin of George W. Bush — that Cohn had him followed and photographed.
Mixed Results Amid Wild Sector Rotation (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic equity hedge funds posted mixed performance in September, as a rotation out of relatively expensive stocks and into cheaper names had different effects on different managers. Equity hedge funds, as expressed by the NHX Equities, gained 0.2 percent in September (90 percent reported), which brought their performance for the first three quarters of 2019 to three percent.
Hedge Funds See Two Consecutive Months of Negative Returns, Says eVestment (Hedge Week)
Aggregate hedge fund industry performance slipped into the red again in September, with the industry returning -0.11 per cent last month, according to eVestment September 2019 hedge fund performance figures. This marked the second consecutive month of negative industry returns, although the industry is still positive for the year, with aggregate year-to-date (YTD) industry returns coming in at +6.35 per cent. Across the industry, 82 per cent of products have produced positive results in 2019 with average gains among positive performers of +10.56 per cent.
Titan Co-Founder Betting on Niche Strategies (HFAlert.com)
Titan Advisors co-founder Tom Holliday has left the fund-of-funds operation to start his own business. Through a startup called Holliday Investment, Holliday aims to form partnerships with hedge fund managers for the purpose of developing and marketing niche strategies that are largely uncorrelated with financial markets. He’s currently in talks with an unidentified manager about launching the first such vehicle early next year, while simultaneously talking to an investor who wants exposure to the strategy. Holliday plans to approach multiple managers with expertise in capacity-constrained strategies that have the potential to generate strong returns over 3-5 years, while also acting as a hedge against volatility in the equity and bond markets. In each case, his firm would form a joint venture with the manager, help structure the vehicle and take the lead role in fund raising.
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (Spruce Point Management)
Spruce Point has significant concerns about Monolithic Power Systems (Nasdaq: MPWR), a designer and manufacturer of power management solutions. Despite being headquartered and publicly listed in the U.S., MPWR operates largely as a foreign company with ~90% of its production, and 58% of sales reported in China. After a close on-the-ground and forensic financial investigation, Spruce Point finds evidence that suggests $245 – $265m (~40%) of its sales are irreconcilable. With MPWR’s shares valued among the highest in the semiconductor space, and fundamental and accounting pressures mounting, we see the potential for 75% – 85% downside risk ($21 – $35 per share).
Catalent Inc (CTLT) Chair & CEO John R Chiminski Sold $4.7 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Chair & CEO of Catalent Inc., John R Chiminski, sold 97,043 shares of CTLT on 10/07/2019 at an average price of $48.84 a share. The total sale was $4.7 million. Catalent Inc is a drug development, delivery and supply partner company. It engages in advanced delivery technologies and development solutions for drugs, biologics, and consumer health products across US, Europe and other international markets.
Insider Trading Policies and Training: Time for a Refresher? (Lexology)
We recently wrote a three-part article series for Corporate Counsel highlighting recent trends warranting review by public companies and consideration as to whether to update their insider trading policies and training. Part One offered practical guidance on mitigating risks associated with employees who may inadvertently share confidential information with others. As the benefits of remote work options increasingly pull the workforce out of the office, companies face risks from employees removing sensitive company documents from the secure confines of their offices and company databases. Because information removed from the safety of a corporate office or database is susceptible in many ways to being taken and misused by bad actors, it is important for in-house counsel to take steps to ensure their insider trading policies and training cover this area.
A Director at United Natural Foods (UNFI) is Buying Shares (Smarter Analyst)
Today, a Director at United Natural Foods (UNFI), Peter Roy, bought shares of UNFI for $75K. Following this transaction Peter Roy’s holding in the company was increased by 25.54% to a total of $349K.
The CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & C.E.O. of Ball Corp (NYSE: BLL) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & C.E.O. of Ball Corp (BLL), John A. Hayes, sold shares of BLL for $695.5K. Following John A. Hayes’ last BLL Sell transaction on February 14, 2019, the stock climbed by 17.8%.
