Loeb’s Third Point Funds Erase All Losses, Now Up for the Year (Reuters)
BOSTON (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb told clients that his funds have wiped away all of the year’s earlier losses and are now in positive territory again after he overhauled the portfolio a few months ago, studding it with fast-growing technology companies. The Third Point Offshore Fund is now up 4.4% for the year after gaining 8.4% in August and the Third Point Ultra Ltd fund is up 3.6% after a gain of 10.6% last month, Third Point told investors in a performance update seen by Reuters.
Kodak Jumps 40% After D.E. Shaw Discloses Stake in the Company (CNBC)
Eastman Kodak’s recent roller-coaster ride continued on Tuesday as shares surged 40% on the back of D.E. Shaw establishing a position in the company. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday night showed that the hedge fund has a 5.2% passive stake in Kodak. However, D.E. Shaw is a quantitative trading firm meaning the stocks they buy and sell are not necessarily aligned with the company’s long-term view of a particular stock. In other words, their new position could simply be a short-term trading bet.
David Einhorn’s Hedge Funds Gain 0.5% in August With Markets Rallying (Bloomberg)
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital hedge funds rose slightly in August even as U.S. stocks extended their rally. The funds gained 0.5%, bringing the firm’s year-to-date loss to 17%, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private. The S&P 500 advanced 7% in the month, marking the equity benchmark’s best August since 1986. U.S. stocks have climbed for five straight months, the longest winning streak since September 2018. Fiscal and monetary policies introduced to fight the Covid-19 pandemic have helped drive the gains.
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Not Even The Retail Apocalypse Can Dent The Ackmanaissance (Deal Breaker)
Lord & Taylor is dead. J.C. Penney, which once caused Bill Ackman a great deal of pain, may not be far behind. Another activist hedge fund manager is in big trouble over Neiman Marcus’ big trouble. And that is how you know the Ackmanaissance is both real and spectacular: Pershing Square is not only making money hand over fist. It is making money hand over fist in a sector, retail, that Ackman acknowledges is not his forte. During a pandemic that is wiping retailers out left and right. And he’s doing it with confidence.
Hedge Fund Oceanwood Urges UK Government to Promote Rail Transport (Reuters)
LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – British hedge fund manager Oceanwood Capital Management has written to the UK government, asking it to redirect public transport policy towards railways rather than short-haul flights and cross-channel ferry transport. “We believe rail to be the most efficient mode of transport currently available for short journeys on congested routes, longer domestic journeys, short-haul international travel and freight,” the fund told UK transport secretary Grant Schapps in a letter dated Aug. 27 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Warren Buffett Buys into Japanese Stocks. How to Play the Move Using ETFs (CNBC)
Warren Buffett is buying into Japan. On his 90th birthday on Sunday, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said his company had taken 5% stakes in Japan’s five leading trading companies: Mitsubishi Corp., Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp. Berkshire’s plan is to keep the stakes — which equate to a roughly $6 billion bet on Japan’s energy, food, metal and textile industries — as long-term plays with the possibility of increasing each one to as much as 9.9%.
Somerset Capital Targets ‘Future Leaders’ with New ESG-Focused Emerging Markets Fund (Hedge Week)
Somerset Capital Management, a global emerging markets specialist investment manager, has launched a new strategy which aims to capitalise on the growth potential among small and medium-sized ESG-friendly companies in emerging market countries. The Somerset Emerging Markets Future Leaders Fund, which is co-run by portfolio managers Edward Robertson and Anthony Linehan, will invest in firms whose market cap ranges between USD750 million and USD13 billion, with target positions selected using Somerset’s own ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment criteria.
How Hedge Funds Almost Pared Losses Amid COVID-19 Turmoil (Preqin.com)
This year has proved quite a ride for risk assets, and hedge funds have not escaped the market turmoil. The outbreak of COVID-19 sent the MSCI AC World Index tumbling to a Q1 2020 loss of 33.9%. That said, it had recouped a majority of the loss by the end of H1 2020, when it was down only 7.1%. Overall, hedge funds have lived up to their primary attraction and successfully reduced correlation with the broader equity market: median drawdowns were only -12.6% and median H1 performance almost pared losses, at -1.4%.
