Singer’s Elliott Returns 12.7% on Investments in 2020 (Bloomberg)
Activist investor Elliott Management Corp. returned 12.7% on its investments in 2020, turning in one of its strongest years in the past decade, according to an investor letter reviewed by Bloomberg. The New York-based hedge fund reported the same returns for both its international and onshore funds, marking their best year since 2012 and 2016, respectively, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public.
Appian Capital Raises $775 Million for Second Mining Fund (The Wall Street Journal)
Appian Capital Advisory has raised $775 million for its second fund focused on the mining sector, as the private-equity manager looks to capitalize on rising demand for metals used in electric vehicles and clean-energy projects. The London-based mining investment firm closed Appian Natural Resources Fund II LP this month at the fund’s hard cap. The new fund, which was backed by about 15 institutional investors, collected more than double the $375 million that Appian raised for its debut vehicle back in 2014.
A Former Citadel Commodities Trader Devised a New Way for Farmers to Hedge Against Climate-Change Risks to their Crops. Here’s How His Startup’s Blockchain-Powered ‘Smart Contracts’ Work. (Business Insider)
Arbol Market is a young startup run by Sid Jha, a former quant for Ken Griffin‘s Citadel, that lets farmers and others impacted by climate change protect their profits. The firm considers itself an insure-tech firm – though it is in the process of becoming an insurer – because it uses smart contracts on a blockchain platform to connect those who need climate change insurance and pools of capital looking to diversify their holdings. So far, the platform has $250 million of risk capacity currently, with plans to break $1 billion early this year. “When we looked at this landscape, we saw users that could use this product and weren’t being served,” said Jha, who is a cofounder with his brother.
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SHK spins out East Point Asset Management (Pensions&Investments)
Sun Hung Kai & Co. announced a partnership and seed commitment of $150 million with East Point Asset Management, a hedge fund boutique the Hong Kong-based conglomerate’s money management platform incubated and spun out at the end of 2020. Lindsay Wright, CEO of SHK Fund Management, in an interview Monday said SHK has a revenue-sharing agreement with the new firm, which is led by Simon Walsh, CEO and chief investment officer.
Column: Rapid oil Price Rise Divides Fund Managers (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – Hedge fund managers are starting to diverge over the likelihood of further oil price increases as Brent futures surge above $50 per barrel and global coronavirus infections accelerate. Hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 14 million barrels of futures and options in the six most important contracts in the week ending Jan. 5.
Equity HFs Have Best Year Since 2009 (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic equity hedge funds gained an average of 4.1 percent in December (90 percent reported) to bring the group’s 2020 performance to 15.1 percent, capping off their best year since 2009. Last year was the second-best year on record for Nordic equity hedge funds since HedgeNordic started tracking the industry in 2005. As reflected by the FTSE World, global equity markets rose by 3.9 percent in local-currency terms last month and 14.4 percent for the year. In Euro terms, global equity markets rose 2.4 percent in December and 6.7 percent for 2020.
Hedge Fund Strategies Soar: Industry Enjoys Biggest Annual Return Since Global Financial Crisis, as Managers Weather 2020 Storm with Double-Digit Surge (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds weathered the political, social and economic shocks brought about by the global pandemic and frequent bursts of soaring volatility to score a near-12 per cent return last year – their best since 2009 – outperforming both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and FTSE 100, new data from Hedge Fund Research shows. HFRI’s main Fund Weighted Composite Index – a global, equal-weighted measure of some 1400 single-manager hedge fund strategies – finished 2020 up 11.6 per cent for the year following a 4.5 per cent rise in December.
Investors with $2.4tn Assets Push HSBC to Cut Coal Investments (Financial News)
Fifteen institutional investors with a combined $2.4tn under management have filed a climate change resolution with HSBC calling for the bank to publish targets for reducing its exposure to coal in line with the Paris climate goals. The move has been coordinated by responsible investment NGO ShareAction with backing from investors including asset manager Amundi and hedge fund Man Group.
Monday 1/11 Insider Buying Report: ALRN, CAG (Nasdaq.com)
At Aileron Therapeutics, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, Muneer A. Satter purchased 9,000,000 shares of ALRN, for a cost of $1.10 each, for a total investment of $9.9M. So far Satter is in the green, up about 72.7% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $1.90. Aileron Therapeutics is trading up about 40.7% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Satter made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $4.07M shares at a cost of $1.10 each. And also on Friday, Director Richard H. Lenny bought $336,952 worth of Conagra Brands, buying 10,000 shares at a cost of $33.70 a piece. Conagra Brands is trading off about 1.5% on the day Monday.
The Chairman of Equinox Gold (NYSE MKT: EQX) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Chairman of Equinox Gold (EQX), Ross J Beaty., sold shares of EQX for $1M. This is Beaty.’s first Sell trade following 7 Buy transactions. Following Ross J Beaty.’s last EQX Sell transaction on March 12, 2020, the stock climbed by 4.8%.
Marathon Patent Group Inc (MARA) CEO Merrick D Okamoto Sold $13 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Marathon Patent Group Inc, Merrick D Okamoto, sold 632,000 shares of MARA on 01/07/2021 at an average price of $20.51 a share. The total sale was $13 million. Marathon Patent Group Inc is a patent and patent rights acquisition and licensing company. The company acquires patents and patent rights from their owners including individual inventors to Fortune 500 companies.
Insider Trading: January 11, 2021 (BIV.com)
Insider Juan Manuel Ruiz-Conejo, officer. Company: Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (TSX:FVI). Shares owned: 101,289. Trade date: Jan 5. Trade total: $ 607,930. Trade: Sale of 50,000 shares at prices from $12.07 to $12.20 per share. Insider Zhang Yongming, officer. Company: New Pacific Metals Corp. (TSX:NUAG). Shares owned: 132,100. Trade date: Dec 31. Trade total: $120,150. Trade: Sale of 15,000 shares at a price of $8.01 per share.
Notable Insider Buys Of The Past Week: Howard Hughes, Party City, Perrigo And More (Benzinga)
Here are some of the most noteworthy insider purchases that were reported in the past week. Real estate development and management company Howard Hughes Corp (HHC) saw 10% owner Pershing Square Capital Management increase its stake. The more than 2.51 million shares acquired, at $79.12 apiece, added up to over $199.13 million. Note that this owner also sold more than 574,800 shares last week. The stock ended the past week’s trading at $80.86 per share. A 10% owner began the year by adding 645,000 At Home Group Inc (HOME) shares to his stake. That owner paid $15.68 to $17.55 each, which totaled more than $10.74 million. Shares of this home decor superstore operator closed most recently above that purchase price range, at $19.18 a share.
