Boaz Weinstein Protege Bests Hedge Fund Titans in Charity Poker (Bloomberg)
Tyrone Davis, who has worked at Saba Capital for a month, made it to the final table at the Take ‘Em to School charity poker tournament early Friday morning at Gotham Hall in Manhattan. By that point, the 21-year-old, who started playing poker as a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had outlasted hundreds of players, including David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, Mo Grimeh of Point72 and his own boss, Boaz Weinstein.
Who’s Betting Against the Pound—and When the Trade Will Run Its Course (Barron’s)
The recent turmoil in U.K. financial markets has yet to find its George Soros, the investor who earned $1 billion by selling the pound short in 1992. The trader nearest that feat this time appears to be Crispin Odey, the founder of London-based Odey Capital Management. Funds run by his hedge fund company, which has $4 billion under management, ended September up nearly 200% for the year —thanks in part to bets against the sterling and U.K. government bonds. London-based FN, a sister publication of Barron’s, reported that Odey and Blue Bay Asset Management, a fixed-income hedge fund owned by RBC, had profited from shorting the pound. But data from the CME and London research firm Macro Hive suggested that more money was betting the pound would rise—just before Prime Minister Liz Truss unveiled a controversial proposal to cut taxes while boosting spending.
As the Market Cools, Aggressive Tiger Global Looks to Raise a Fund That’s Half the Size as Its Last (Tech Crunch)
In recent years, assets under management at the investment firm Tiger Global have exploded. Now the firm is taking stock and winnowing down its operations, per a new investor letter first seen by Axios and obtained subsequently by TechCrunch. Most significantly, whether for lack of other options or – just as likely – in reaction to the changing market landscape, the firm just let its limited partners know it plans to raise $6 billion for its newest fund, for which it expects to hold a “first close” at least by mid-January. (As an added sweetener, investors in the first close will receive a discounted management fee of 1.75%, states the letter.)
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A Banner Month for Nordic Trend-Followers (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic trend-followers notched big gains in September, with the group advancing 3.0 percent on average last month to take the year-to-date performance to 7.5 percent. The five best-performing constituents of the Nordic Hedge Index in September were trend-following CTAs. Lynx Asset Management’s systematic trend-following vehicle, Lynx Fund, booked a monthly advance of 9.9 percent in September to take over the top spot in this year’s list of best-performing Nordic hedge funds with an advance of 46.7 percent.
SEC Charges Man for Defrauding Investors Out of Millions of Dollars by Posing as Hedge Fund Billionaire (HedgeCo.net)
(Hedgeco.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Justin Costello for using a false persona, as a Harvard-educated military veteran and hedge fund billionaire, to defraud investors out of millions of dollars. The SEC also charged Costello and David Ferraro, an associate of Costello’s, for promoting the stock of several microcap companies on social media without disclosing their own simultaneous stock sales as market prices rose. According to the SEC’s complaint, Costello portrayed himself to the public as a seasoned, licensed investment professional who was building a conglomerate in the cannabis industry.
Davidson Kempner Seeks Higher Price on £9.5 Billion Aveva Deal (Bloomberg)
Davidson Kempner Capital Management is building its stake in Aveva Group Plc and will join other investors in pushing Schneider Electric SE to up a £31 ($34.7) per share bid for the UK industrial software company, people familiar with the matter said. The hedge fund, which now has a holding of 3.5% in Aveva, and others may seek an improved offer of up to £35 a share, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Davidson Kempner is continuing to add to its position, the people said.
Steve Cohen’s New Edge Is Hedge Fund Moneyball at Playoff-Bound Mets (WealthManagement.com)
The billionaire investor has turned from high-stakes trading to professional baseball and is pressing his advantage by spending big to win. It’s make-or-break time for Steve Cohen’s version of Moneyball. Since buying the New York Mets two years ago, the hedge fund titan has wasted little time flexing his $12.8 billion fortune, building the most expensive roster in Major League Baseball so quickly that owners and players imposed a new cost — the so-called “Cohen tax” — for big spenders. It’s a far cry from the strategy of Billy Beane, a former Mets first-round draft pick, who popularized sabermetrics some two decades ago by making the most of a tight budget with the Oakland Athletics.
Bridgewater continues long legacy of shared leadership roles under co-CEOs Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini (Fortune)
Ray Dalio, the famed investor and founder of Bridgewater Associates, is leaving the hedge fund after 47 years. “The transition of Bridgewater from Ray is done!” co-CEOs Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini wrote in an email sent to employees on Tuesday. The original announcement of Dalio’s impending departure came in February, but regulatory hurdles prevented the transition of control until now. On September 30, Dalio transferred all of his voting rights to Bridgewater’s board and stepped down as co-chief investment officer, a role he held alongside Greg Jensen and Bob Prince. He will remain a board member and “CIO mentor” to Jensen and Prince. “Hopefully until I die, I will continue to be a mentor, an investor, and board member because I and they love doing those things together,” Dalio said in a LinkedIn post.
This Fund Manager Says Tail Risk Events Like The Pandemic Are Only Going To Increase (Forbes)
Anyone who’s been investing in the markets regularly over the last several years has probably noticed that things have changed, and it’s not entirely due to the pandemic. In a recent whitepaper, one fund manager explained why he believes structural changes have made the equity markets increasingly fragile. Kris Sidial of tail risk fund Ambrus Group noted that it’s no longer uncommon to see days with extreme volatility.
This Year’s Surprising Hedge Fund Winners (Institutional Investor)
Hedge fund strategies that outperformed in 2022 required significant investment in modeling and infrastructure. Smaller funds, which can invest in niche areas of the market and stick to only their best ideas, often beat their larger peers. In some hedge fund strategies, however, larger funds have significantly outperformed the smaller ones amid the current market downturn.
Thursday 10/6 Insider Buying Report: FPF, SOR (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred’s, Scott T. Fleming, made a $123,627 buy of FPF, purchasing 7,500 shares at a cost of $16.48 a piece. First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred is trading up about 0.2% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Fleming made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $135,375 shares for a cost of $18.05 each. And on Monday, Director Mark L. Lipson bought $49,892 worth of Source Capital, buying 1,400 shares at a cost of $35.64 a piece. Before this latest buy, Lipson made one other buy in the past year, purchasing $50,129 shares at a cost of $37.83 each. Source Capital is trading off about 1.3% on the day Thursday. Lipson was up about 2.4% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with SOR trading as high as $36.49 in trading on Thursday.
$8.2 Million Bet On GMS? 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Chardan NexTech Acquisition 2 Corp: The Trade: Chardan NexTech Acquisition 2 Corp. (CNTQ) Director Kerry Propper acquired a total of 485,000 shares an average price of $10.36. To acquire these shares, it cost around $5.02 million. GMS: The Trade: GMS Inc. (GMS) 10% owner Christopher Shackelton acquired a total of 205,000 shares at an average price of $40.19. To acquire these shares, it cost around $8.24 million.
