Crispin Odey Cuts Business Ties to His Family in Further Retreat (Bloomberg)
Crispin Odey has stepped back from several companies connected to his family, marking the hedge fund founder’s latest retreat from business activities following sexual harassment allegations. Odey, 64, resigned this month as a director of three UK companies that oversee assets for his adult children, according to registry filings. One of the firms holds an investment in UK asset manager Ruffer.
Schonfeld’s Growing Pains: Ryan Tolkin Reckons with his Greatest Challenge Yet as Returns Dry Up at the $13 Billion Hedge Fund (Business Insider)
When it was raising fresh money from investors in 2020, one slide on the pitch deck for the hedge fund Schonfeld Strategic Advisors got to the heart of the issue: “Why Schonfeld?” “Talent is our strategy.” That tagline has long been the rallying cry at Schonfeld. Even as the firm blossomed from a low-key family-investment office to a hedge-fund giant with nearly $15 billion in assets and a headcount of over 950, it has leaned into the collegial DNA that separates it from hard-nosed, unsentimental rivals such as Millennium and Citadel.
United States: Limited Partner Exception Challenged By Hedge Fund Legend (Mondaq.com)
An investment management firm founded and owned by legendary investor (and New York Mets owner) Steve Cohen on August 11 filed a petition in Tax Court contesting an IRS audit adjustment in the amount of $344,063,484 for tax years 2015 and 2016. The adjustment relates to the IRS’s assertion that the taxpayer, Point72 Asset Management, LP (“Point72”), incorrectly reported $0 as its net earnings from self-employment. At stake is over $13 million dollars in taxes, not counting interest and any potential penalties. For the years in dispute, Point72 was owned .01% by Point72 Capital Advisors, Inc. (“Advisors”), an S corporation wholly owned by Mr. Cohen, and 99.99% by Point72 Capital Holdings, LP (“Holdings”), a limited partnership owned .01% by Advisors and 99.99% by Mr. Cohen.
Photo by Marga Santoso on Unsplash
Activist Hedge Fund Starboard Value Buys Stake in Tampa’s Bloomin’ Brands (Biz Journals)
A corporate shakeup may be on the horizon for Tampa’s multibillion-dollar restaurant company Bloomin’ Brands. Starboard Value, the New York hedge fund behind the makeovers of Olive Garden and Papa John’s, bought a minority stake in Bloomin’ that amounts to nearly 10% voting power, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Starboard CEO and Founder Jeff Smith hinted at interest in reentering the restaurant industry during an interview with CNBC late last month, saying underpriced stocks in the sector presented several opportunities. In March, Smith stepped down as chairman at Papa John’s after a four-year overhaul of the company.
US SEC Readies Vote on Regulatory Overhaul for Private Funds (Reuters)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected on Wednesday to finalize rules overhauling private fund disclosure requirements, banning certain fees and introducing other changes for the industry representing $20 trillion in assets. The changes, first proposed in February 2022, would require hedge funds and private equity firms to detail all fees and expenses on a quarterly basis, ban charging customers for unperformed services or for adviser examination, and lower the bar for investors to sue fund managers. Fund advisers, even those not registered with the agency, would be prohibited from conflicts of interest or giving any investor preferential treatment without disclosing it.
