Billionaire Ray Dalio: ‘Of Course’ Rich People Like Me Should Pay More Taxes (CNBC)
Financier Ray Dalio is on a mission to let everyone know that wealth inequality has become so extreme it is driving a dangerous wedge in society. The 69-year-old is on the fortunate side of that wealth gap: He’s the founder of the largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, which has made him a billionaire more than 18 times over, according to Forbes. But he’s also willing to open his wallet. “So should taxes on people like you be raised?” Dalio was asked by Bill Whitaker on “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
Exclusive: Loeb’s Third Point Building Stake to Pressure Sony – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point LLC is building a stake in Sony Corp to push for changes that include shedding some businesses, the second time in six years it has targeted the Japanese electronics maker, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Once a market leader in consumer electronics, Sony is now in the midst of a turnaround effort spearheaded by Kenichiro Yoshida, its chief executive who formerly served at its chief financial officer.
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Hedge Fund Backer Makes High-Stakes Offer in Europe Drive (Bloomberg)
A U.S. investor who has backed hedge fund managers from John Paulson to Kyle Bass is pushing into Europe to offer managers an unusual choice: They can take a bigger share of profits with the catch that they risk losing all their money if the bets go awry. New York-based Prelude Capital Management, which specializes in a niche offering called first-loss funds, has hired former Bank of America Corp. prime brokerage executive Adam Karp to lead its expansion within Europe, according to people with knowledge of the matter. First-loss funds typically offer hedge fund managers an opportunity to hold on to more than half their profits, in exchange for taking on the bulk of the risk.
Edward Lampert Offers to Buy Remaining Shares of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores (The Wall Street Journal)
Edward Lampert is looking to buy the roughly 41% of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores that he and his hedge-fund ESL Investments don’t currently own. Through an affiliate called Transform Holdco LLC, the former chief executive of Sears Holdings Corp. is offering shareholders of the Sears spinoff, which includes its hardware and appliance stores, $2.25 a share, or about $21 million.
Whopper Of A Turnaround: At Burger King, The 3G Capital Model Actually Worked (Forbes)
Challenge: Make a 60-year-old hamburger chain into something cool. Daniel Schwartz accepted that assignment six years ago after 3G Capital took over Burger King and named Schwartz chief executive. He was 32. Burger King was a tired outfit, with a confusing menu and sales going sideways. Its restaurants averaged half the revenue of McDonald’s. But where there is underperformance, there is opportunity. Schwartz slashed overhead at the Miami headquarters. He streamlined food preparation. He dished out stock to middle managers. He shrank the payroll and the capital budget by selling company-owned stores to franchisees.
Asia Ex-Japan Hedge Funds Already Up 12% in Q1 (Opalesque.com)
Asia ex-Japan hedge funds posted strong gains for both March and in the first quarter, performance data released Friday by Hedge Fund Research showed. Asia ex-Japan Index added +4.3% in March and +12.0% for Q1 2019, the report said. Aggregate hedge fund returns, led by Macro and CTA strategies, were strongly positive in the first quarter, in sharp contrast to the previous quarter, revealed the report. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gained +1.0% for the month, bringing the 1Q19 performance to +5.9%. Risk Parity strategies surged in 1Q19 with the HFR Risk Parity Vol 15 Index advancing +14.9%, the strongest quarter since index inception.
This Hedge Fund is Moving from Big Tech to Content Makers. Here’s… (CNBC)
Dan Niles, AlphaOne Capital‘s founding partner, joins “Squawk Alley” to talk about why the hedge fund is moving away from big tech giants and toward content makers.
