Crispin Odey’s Hedge Fund Plunges 10% as Stock Markets Rebound (Bloomberg)
Equity markets are staging a comeback, and that’s bad news for bearish hedge fund manager Crispin Odey. His flagship Odey European Inc. fund fell just over 10 percent last month, according to an investor update seen by Bloomberg. While sharp losses and gains aren’t unusual for Odey’s investors, this was the fund’s biggest monthly decline in nearly three years.
Lampert’s New Sears Faces Fresh Legal Fights (The Wall Street Journal)
Lampert’s new Sears faces fresh legal fights. Edward Lampert has been at the helm of the new Sears for just weeks, but the retailer is already sparring with the old company left behind in bankruptcy as well as with Stanley Black & Decker Inc.
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San Francisco hedge fund manager makes big bet on forcing change at Argo (ExpressNews.com)
Voce Capital Management’s J. Daniel Plants has waged numerous proxy fights over the last eight years, but likely none bigger than the one he recently launched against Argo Group International Holdings — a specialty insurer with its U.S headquarters in San Antonio. Plants has come out guns blazing directly at Argo and Mark E. Watson III, its its longtime CEO and president. He attacked them in a letter to the insurer’s shareholders for what he called “anemic” results by one measure of profitability and for “excessive and shockingly inappropriate corporate expenses and perks.”
Longtime Point72 PM exits for Millennium (eFinancialCareers)
A Point72 portfolio manager who has spent his last 20 years with the firm has resigned and is headed to Millennium Management. Emilio Masci, formerly of EverPoint Asset Management, a long/short equity division of Point72, is set to start with Millennium in the New York area. Masci was clearly valued by Steve Cohen. He’s been working with the hedge fund manager since 1999, and began his career at SAC Capital. SAC became Point72 and turned into a family office in 2014 before accepting outside capital again in 2018. Masci was there all along.
A Hedge Fund Steps Into Nigeria’s $9 Billion Corporate Dispute (Bloomberg)
Nigeria potentially faces the largest financial liability in its history, and a hedge fund is coming to collect. The legal and political drama involves a deal between the country and a tiny natural gas company that was scuttled after the sudden death of Nigeria’s president in 2010. The company, Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), sued and won a staggering judgment, now worth $9 billion. But it’s spent years trying to get the country to pay that award, equivalent to almost 2.5 percent of its annual gross domestic product. Now a hedge fund managed by VR Capital Group has taken a large stake in P&ID.
$18 Billion Hedge Fund CQS is Targeting America’s Largest Investors with Specialized Strategies as Part of a US Push (Business Insider)
A multibillion-dollar London-based hedge fund wants to expand its presence in the United States, and it thinks customized strategies built for specific investors is the way to do it. CQS, an $18 billion hedge fund manager founded by a billionaire who was knighted by the Queen, named a new CEO, Xavier Rolet, at the end of last year. The firm had been run by Sir Michael Hintze for its first two decades of existence.
