Swiss Hedge Fund to Offer Clients Gold Shield Against Inflation (Bloomberg)
A Swiss hedge fund plans to offer investments denominated in gold and silver to protect clients against the risk that record coronavirus stimulus spending will push down currency values. EDL Capital, started by former Moore Capital Management portfolio manager Edouard de Langlade, will begin offering the two share classes in its macro hedge fund starting Aug. 1, Jannik Wenger, the firm’s head of investor relations, said in an emailed statement. The move will give investors an alternative to currencies such as the dollar and euro, and provide exposure to the precious metals.
Winners and Losers from WFH Trend (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Just like any other crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic will bring a new set of corporate winners and losers in the business world. Seasoned fund manager Magnus Angenfelt, who runs equity market-neutral hedge fund Chelonia Market Neutral, discusses some winners and losers of the pandemic on investment podcast Finansräven. Angenfelt, who co-founded Brummer-backed market-neutral hedge fund Manticore, reckons that Byggmax, a do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer of construction materials in the Nordics, is well-positioned to benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Angenfelt, a house “is not only something one should just live in but also increasingly serves as a workplace,” which will encourage individuals to invest more in their houses.
Davidson Kempner Spurns Thermo Fisher’s Qiagen Offer as ‘Wholly Inadequate’ (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Hedge fund Davidson Kempner said on Wednesday Thermo Fisher Scientific’s (TMO.N) offer to buy German genetic test maker Qiagen (QIA.DE) was “wholly inadequate” and that it would not be tendering its shares into the deal at the current price. The fund, which holds 3.1% of Qiagen shares, said Qiagen should be sold for 50 euros ($57.21) a share, far above Thermo Fisher’s current offer of 39 euros.
oneinchpunch/Shutterstock.com
Doomsday Hedge Fund Sees Gold Topping $3,000 an Ounce (Bloomberg)
A hedge fund manager who returned 47% this year by betting on gold and Treasuries says the next decade is going to be marked by inflation that central banks are powerless to control. Diego Parrilla, who heads the $450 million Quadriga Igneo fund, says unprecedented monetary stimulus is fueling asset bubbles and corporate debt addiction — rendering interest-rate hikes impossible without an economic crash. In the ensuing market mania, the manager whose portfolio is loaded up with cross-asset hedges says gold could rise to $3,000 to $5,000 an ounce in the next three to five years, up from the current price of $1,800.
BNP Paribas Taps into ESG Surge with New Global Sustainability-Focused Hedge Fund Launch (Hedge Week)
BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched a long/short global equity hedge fund which will invest in companies grappling with looming environmental challenges, as interest in ESG (environmental, social and governance) themed hedge fund strategies continues to soar. BNP’s new Environmental Absolute Return Thematic (EARTH) Fund will trade energy, materials, agriculture and industrials stocks in both developed and emerging markets with market caps of more than USD1 billion.
U.S. Rare Earths Miner MP Materials to Go Public in $1.47 billion Deal (Reuters)
(Reuters) – U.S. rare earths miner MP Materials said on Wednesday it would go public through a merger with a blank-check company backed by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group in a deal valued at $1.47 billion. The listing on the New York Stock Exchange would be the first for a U.S. rare earths company since Molycorp went public a decade ago. Molycorp filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and MP Materials bought Molycorp’s assets, including California’s Mountain Pass mine, out of bankruptcy in 2017.
Avoro Alum Planning Biotechnology Vehicle (HFAlert)
The number-two investment executive for Avoro Capital’s high-performing biotechnology-stock hedge fund is forming his own firm. Senai Asefaw is in the process of setting up Paradigm Biocapital, where he would run his own biotechnology hedge fund. His goal is to begin marketing the vehicle in August. Asefaw will remain at Avoro through July. While in its early stages, Asefaw’s plan is attracting significant attention given his history. Asefaw has been at Avoro, formerly known as venBio Select Advisor, since 2014, working under portfolio manager Behzad Aghazadeh in New York. Since its inception in 2010 through April 2019, Aghazadeh’s hedge fund, now called Avoro Life Sciences Fund, produced an annualized return of 35.7%, far outperforming both the HFRI Equity Hedge Sector Healthcare Index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index.
Hedge Fund Industry Gains 2.04% in June as Almost All Hedge Fund Sectors Have Positive Month (Opalesque.com)
Opalesque Industry Update – Hedge funds continued their positive ways in June, riding a continuing stock market recovery and reopening economies to a 2.04% monthly return, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. By comparison, the S&P 500 Total Return Index was up 1.99% in June. Year-to-date, the hedge fund industry was down 2.71%. The S&P 500 Total Return Index was down 3.08% over the same period. All sectors but one tracked by the Barclay Hedge Fund Indices were in the black for June. The lone exception was the Volatility Trading Index, which was down 1.23% for the month.
Tepper, Einhorn, Soros Stock Holdings Would Go Dark in SEC Plan (Bloomberg)
John Paulson, Stanley Druckenmiller and George Soros are among billionaire investors who would no longer have to reveal which stocks they own under a U.S. plan to ease disclosure rules — hardly the smaller fund managers that regulators say the overhaul is supposed to benefit. While the legendary traders all oversee billions of dollars, the value of each of their firms’ equity holdings traded on U.S. exchanges is less than the $3.5 billion threshold that would trigger public reporting in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal. They are far from alone, as other Wall Street icons below that level include Louis Bacon, David Tepper, David Einhorn and Paul Tudor Jones.
Wednesday 7/15 Insider Buying Report: BBBY, BSET (Nasdaq.com)
On Friday, Bed, Bath & Beyond’s Director, Ann Yerger, made a $49,740 purchase of BBBY, buying 6,000 shares at a cost of $8.29 each. So far Yerger is in the green, up about 9.0% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $9.04. Bed, Bath & Beyond is trading up about 4% on the day Wednesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Yerger in the past year. And at Bassett Furniture Industries, there was insider buying on Monday, by CEO Robert H. Spilman Jr. who bought 5,000 shares at a cost of $7.12 each, for a total investment of $35,600. Before this latest buy, Spilman Jr. bought BSET on 6 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $381,240 at an average of $6.82 per share. Bassett Furniture Industries is trading up about 5.8% on the day Wednesday. So far Spilman Jr. is in the green, up about 7.2% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $7.63.
Sunrun Inc (RUN) CEO Lynn Michelle Jurich Sold $6.1 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Sunrun Inc., Lynn Michelle Jurich, sold 200,000 shares of RUN on 07/13/2020 at an average price of $30.7 a share. The total sale was $6.1 million. Sunrun Inc provides clean, solar energy to homeowners. It is engaged in the design, development, installation sale, ownership, and maintenance of residential solar energy systems (“Projects”) in the United States.
The CFO of Helen Of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the CFO of Helen Of Troy (HELE), Brian Grass, sold shares of HELE for $888.1K. Following Brian Grass’ last HELE Sell transaction on May 17, 2018, the stock climbed by 108.1%. In addition to Brian Grass, 2 other HELE executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Based on Helen Of Troy’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending February 29, the company posted quarterly revenue of $442 million and GAAP net loss of -$3,155,000.
Sebi Finds Divis Lab CFO, Son, 6 Others Guilty of Insider Trading; Fines them Rs 97 Lakh (CNBCTV18.com)
Capital and commodities market regulator Sebi has found the Chief Financial Officer of Divis Laboratories L Kishore Babu and seven others guilty of insider trading charges. The eight persons had in July 2017, dealt in shares of the company based on unpublished information about the USFDA import alert on the company’s Unit-II at Vishakhapatnam being lifted. All eight persons have been collectively asked to pay Rs 97 lakh as penalty; this includes around Rs 74 lakh of illegal gains and the rest as interest from July 2017 till date.
Insider Trading Risks During COVID-19 (TheLawyersDaily.ca)
The COVID-19 crisis has brought about many changes for mining companies, from ensuring the safety of both office and exploration staff in the context of social distancing and public health protocols, to meeting novel challenges associated with regulatory filing deadlines and virtual shareholder meetings. The public market landscape, much like the world itself, is a significantly different place than it was a mere four months ago. And while regulatory exemptive relief measures have eased some of the burden, both the future of the virus itself and the entirety of its impact remain uncertain.
Ihs Markit (INFO) EVP Todd S. Hyatt Sold $3.1 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
EVP of Ihs Markit, Todd S. Hyatt, sold 40,500 shares of INFO on 07/14/2020 at an average price of $75.5 a share. The total sale was $3.1 million. IHS Markit Ltd is a provider of data and analytics to corporate and sovereign clients across various industries. It products include economic forecasting, cost modeling, risk assessments and scenario analysis, competitive benchmarking and consulting.
