Icahn Hit by Hindenburg Short Call as Activist Becomes Target (Bloomberg)
Carl Icahn, the famed activist investor who’s made a career out of starting corporate brawls, found himself on the receiving end of criticism Tuesday after Hindenburg Research disclosed a short call against his investment firm. Shares of Icahn Enterprises LP fell as much as 24% Tuesday morning in New York, their biggest intraday drop since 2010, after Hindenburg claimed in a lengthy report that the company is overpriced, and said it found evidence of inflated valuations for some of its assets.
Exelixis Gives More Details Behind Farallon Proxy Fight (Endpoint News)
Oncology biotech Exelixis is defending its business amid a proxy fight with a hedge fund that has criticized the company’s R&D strategy and spending. In a letter to shareholders dated May 1, Exelixis said it is trying to avoid an “unnecessary proxy contest” with Farallon. It urged shareholders to vote for the company’s 11 nominees for the board — and to specifically not vote for one candidate nominated by Farallon — at an upcoming shareholder meeting on May 31.
3AC Founders’ OPNX Exchange Formally Reprimanded by Dubai Crypto Regulator (Coin Desk)
The action by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority targeting Kyle Davies, Su Zhu and others follows two cease-and-desist letters for operating an unregulated exchange. OPNX, a bankruptcy claims exchange set up by the founders of collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), has been formally reprimanded by Dubai’s crypto regulator for operating an unregulated exchange, according to an official notice. The letter was sent on April 18 to OPNX’s Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, who were the founders of 3AC, after two cease-and-desist orders for marketing the exchange to residents of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates were issued by the regulator in February and March.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
Meet Citadel X: The Team of Engineers at Ken Griffin’s $57 Billion Hedge Fund Giving it a Competitive Edge by Streamlining and Designing its Tools (Business Insider)
Inside Ken Griffin‘s Citadel is a small team of engineers who are known to build new tools in less than an hour at the $57 billion hedge fund. “If you need a new application that solves a very specific concern, and you have a data feed for it? We can have a prototype of an app up and running for that in five to 10 minutes,” Kristofer Baxter, head of UI at Citadel X, told Insider.
Danske Appoints Head of Quant & Overlay (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Danske Bank Asset Management announced the appointment of Thomas Gade as Head of Quant & Overlay as a successor to Jasper Riis, who joined +, Pensionskassen for Akademikere in March. The Quant & Overlay team manages Danske Bank’s quantitative-based equity strategies, equity and derivatives-based hedge fund strategies, and equity index products.
SEC’s Gensler Blasts Hedge Fund Fees as Agency Readies Rules (Bloomberg)
Gary Gensler is again blasting hedge funds and private equity firms for the fees they charge investors, as the Securities and Exchange Commission plows ahead with plans to boost oversight of the private fund industry. “Today, private fund advisers receive multiple levels and types of fees—from management to performance to portfolio company fees.,” the SEC chief said in remarks prepared for a Managed Funds Association trade group conference. “That’s not to mention consulting, advisory, monitoring, servicing, transaction, and director’s fees, among others.”
King Street Capital Names Managing Director for Marketing, Investor Relations team (Pensions&Investments)
Will McGirr has joined alternative investment firm King Street Capital Management as a managing director at its marketing and investor relations team. In this role, Mr. McGirr will report to Vincent Dubois-Pelerin, partner and global head of marketing and investor relations, and support the firm in “enhancing client relationships” across the U.S. and Canada, said a Tuesday release.
Brevan Howard Ditches $1bn Commonwealth Strategy (Hedge Week)
Brevan Howard Asset Management has pulled the plug on its relationship with US hedge fund firm Commonwealth Asset Management after a $1 billion separately managed account it advised on suffered losses last month, according to a report by Bloomberg. The report cites unnamed sources familiar with the latter as revealing that Jersey-based Brevan Howard terminated the arrangement after a series of bets on short-term interest rates went awry resulting in a steep drop in the macro trading money pool.
Tuesday 5/2 Insider Buying Report: PI, SFST (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, Impinj’s Director, Steve Sanghi, made a $2M purchase of PI, buying 23,500 shares at a cost of $85.00 a piece. Sanghi was up about 9.0% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with PI trading as high as $92.62 at last check today. Impinj is trading up about 3.5% on the day Tuesday. Before this latest buy, Sanghi made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $2M shares for a cost of $119.70 each. And at Southern First Bancshares, there was insider buying on Monday, by Chief Financial Officer David Andrew Borrmann who purchased 7,000 shares at a cost of $27.56 each, for a total investment of $192,929. Southern First Bancshares is trading down about 1.6% on the day Tuesday. Bargain hunters can pick up SFST even cheaper than Borrmann did, with shares changing hands as low as $25.77 at last check today — that’s 6.5% under Borrmann’s purchase price.
$4.4M Bet On Howard Hughes? Check Out These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Howard Hughes: The Trade: The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) Director William Ackman acquired a total of 58,816 shares an average price of $74.74. To acquire these shares, it cost around $4.4 million. Northwest Bancshares: The Trade: Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NWBI) President and CEO Louis J Torchio acquired a total of 4,395 shares at an average price of $11.32. To acquire these shares, it cost around $49.73 thousand.
