Hedge Fund Balyasny is Diversifying, and Hiring (eFinancialCareers)
Three weeks ago, when most people were winding down for Christmas, Balyasny Asset Management (BAM), the multi-strategy hedge fund, held an investor day. It was its first since 2017, and was something of a milestone. BAM has changed a lot in five years. When BAM was founded by Dmitry Balyasny, Scott Schroeder and Taylor O’Malle in 2001, its focus was fundamental investing and long/short equities trading. After diversifying its strategy, this is no longer the case – at the December investor day, the fund revealed that more than half of its $17bn in assets under management are now spread across other strategies, including early stage investing, commodities, commodities and macro.
Elliott Hires Cornwall Capital’s Tai to Boost Japanese Activism (Bloomberg)
Elliott Investment Management has hired Aaron Tai, a partner at hedge fund Cornwall Capital, to grow its activism practice in Japan, according to a person familiar with the matter. Tai joined Elliott this week and reports to London-based senior portfolio manager Nabeel Bhanji, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Trian Fund Management, Now Pushing for Seat at Disney, Lost 10.6% in 2022 (Reuters)
Trian Fund Management, the activist investment firm currently pushing for changes plus a board seat at Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), posted a return of negative 10.6% last year when many hedge funds nursed losses, people familiar with the number said. Trian’s co-founder, Nelson Peltz, has criticized Disney for bungled succession planning and rising costs at its streaming service and he is pushing for a board seat, arguing he has the operational know-how to help repair the damage.
Image by Sergei Tokmakov Terms.Law from Pixabay
Hedge Funds End 2022 On A Sour Note As Global Macro Outperformed And Multi-Strategy Stalled (Forbes)
December brought a bit of a turnaround in hedge fund performance, with global macro funds taking center stage as the best performers. Meanwhile, multi-strategy funds stalled last month, and smaller funds outperformed larger ones in some strategies, marking a turnaround of what was seen in many previous months of 2022. In its “Monthly Hedge Fund Update” for December, Citco reported that the overall weighted-average return for the hedge funds it administers was -0.7%, a significant turnaround after two straight months of positive returns. The overall median return was flat, indicating no difference in performance between large and small funds.
US Hedge Fund Cleans Up Betting Against Cathie Wood’s ARK Fund (Proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
US hedge fund Greenlight Capital made 37% of its money in 2022 by shorting stocks held by Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF, its founder hinted in a letter to investors. While the ARK fund was not named specifically, David Einhorn said that in early 2021 Greenlight identified an “actively-managed ETF of so-called ‘innovation’ stocks that appeared to us to have significantly similar characteristics to our bubble names”.
Caledonia Hedge Fund Soars Out of the Red (AFR.com)
The era of stocks being valued on market share or revenue growth is over, according to hedge fund managers Will Vicars and Mike Messara, who manage the $4.6 billion Caledonia Global Fund. Vicars and Messara, as co-chief investment officers, are trumpeting the 18.9 per cent net return earned by the fund in the six months to December 31, and tipping “a sustained period of strong returns”.
Hedge Fund Carrhae Says China Stocks to Beat Global Peers (Bloomberg)
Chinese equities will outperform global peers in the first half of this year, according to Carrhae Capital LLP, which is betting on the nation’s reopening after its emerging-market hedge fund beat peers last year. “We have entered the year with a very bullish stance on China and on the margin we have been taking profits,” Ali Akay, Carrhae Capital’s London-based chief investment officer, said in emailed comments. “However, we still see plenty of upside even in the go-to stocks in China and plenty more in the more neglected corners of the market.”
Hedge Funds Outperform S&P500 in December and Calendar Year 2022 (Hedge Week)
As recession fears continued to pull equity markets down in December, the hedge fund industry posted its own – if smaller – monthly loss, down -1.68% for the month, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The hedge fund industry fared better than the S&P 500 Total Return Index for the year as well, losing -8.59% over the 12 months while the S&P 500 Total Return Index fell -18.14%. The industry’s 9.45% outperformance in 2022 marks the first instance in more than 14 years where hedge funds have outperformed the index in a calendar year.
Early Ethereum-Backer HashKey Capital Raises for Third Crypto Fund (Opalesque.com)
Crypto-focused global asset manager HashKey Capital has raised another $500 million for investments in the Web3 ecosystem. The fund will invest in crypto and blockchain initiatives around the world with a focus on emerging markets. HashKey FinTech Investment Fund III was backed by institutional investors, including sovereign-wealth funds, businesses, and family offices, according to a press release from the investment arm of financial services firm HashKey Group. “Most people from the industry recognize HashKey Group as a global investment pioneer in blockchain, but few are aware that the HashKey Group was the inspiration behind the name ‘Shanghai Upgrade’ for Ethereum. As one of the earliest institutional investors in Ethereum and the host of Devcon2, we have maintained since the first day that the power of blockchain and crypto innovation can create a better future,” said Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman of HashKey Group.
Wednesday 1/18 Insider Buying Report: ACHR (Nasdaq.com)
At Archer Aviation, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, Director Michael Spellacy bought 23,116 shares of ACHR, for a cost of $2.60 each, for a total investment of $59,998. So far Spellacy is in the green, up about 23.7% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $3.21. Archer Aviation is trading up about 18.6% on the day Wednesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Spellacy in the past year.
Starbucks, NVIDIA And These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Selling (Benzinga)
NVIDIA: The Trade: NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Director Mark A Stevens sold a total of 1,014,305 shares at an average price of $158.45. The insider received around $33.27 million from selling those shares. AutoZone: The Trade: AutoZone, Inc. (AZO) Director, Chairman, President & CEO William C. Rhodes III sold a total of 5,000 shares at an average price of $2,443.31. The insider received around $12.22 million as a result of the transaction.
