US Hedge Fund Reportedly Dumps its Entire Stake in Barclays (CNBC)
U.S. hedge fund Tiger Global Management has sold all of its stake in British bank Barclays, according to a report by the Financial Times. The New York-based hedge fund had been one of the top 10 investors in Barclays and held a stake of 2.5 percent in the bank. It, however, started reducing its position last summer before selling the entire stake this year, the FT reported on Sunday citing anonymous sources. Tiger was not immediately available for a comment when contacted by CNBC. Barclays declined to comment on the report.
Brexit Donor Odey Renews Sterling ‘Short’ Position, Does Not See Hard Brexit (Reuters)
(Reuters) – British hedge fund manager and Brexit supporter Crispin Odey said on Monday he was again positioning for sterling to weaken, calling the currency “mortally damaged”. The trade reverses a move, reported by Reuters in early January, that Odey was positioning for the pound to strengthen as he expected Britain to stay in the European Union despite the outcome of the 2016 referendum. He had told Reuters at the time he expected sterling to rise to “$1.32 or $1.35”. It was trading then around $1.27 but rallied to a four-month high of $1.3218 on Jan. 25, before retreating to around $1.29 now.
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A Very Special Situations Hedge Fund (HedgeNordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After a relatively difficult first year since launching in December of 2015, Danish special situations fund Formue Nord Markedsneutral is providing more evidence of its uniqueness with each passing month. The market-neutral fund focusing on special situations delivered a return of 13.6 percent last year when most players in Nordic hedge fund arena stumbled, but more importantly, has exhibited close to zero correlation with global equities since inception.
Hedge Funds Accelerate Oil Buying: Kemp (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors bought crude oil futures and options at the fastest rate for almost six months in the week to Feb. 12. Hedge fund managers are becoming steadily more bullish on the outlook for oil prices as Saudi Arabia makes deep cuts in production, sanctions hit Venezuela and Iran, and the U.S. and China inch toward a trade deal. Hedge funds and other money managers were net buyers of 32 million barrels of Brent crude futures and options in the week to Feb. 22, according to position records published by ICE Futures Europe.
Windstream Woes: Hedge Fund Prevails in Bond Fight (LightReading)
Windstream may be headed for bankruptcy — or at least back to court to prevent it — following a court ruling late Friday that said the company defaulted on its debts in 2015. At issue was whether the carrier’s bond provisions allowed it to spin off its Windstream Services subsidiary into a real estate investment trust (REIT) called Uniti Group — a transaction that happened in 2015. Light Reading reported on Windstream’s plan back then. The carrier wanted to put its physical network assets –- like its copper and fiber distribution networks –- into a REIT, with the communications service providers using those assets as “tenants.” The arrangement would give Windstream a way to reduce its debt, cut its dividend and, the company said, move more quickly to expand its broadband footprint. The hedge fund Aurelius Capital Management, a major holder of Windstream bonds, said that Windstream violated the condition of its bonds by forming the REIT.
