Foreign Fund ‘Not Satisfied’ After Kyushu Railway Refuses Proposals (Asia.Nikkei.com)
TOKYO — New York-based hedge fund Fir Tree Partners says it is “not satisfied” with Kyushu Railway, after it refused the activist fund’s shareholder proposals, which included a 10% buyback of company shares. On Monday the investment firm held a media briefing regarding the proposals in Tokyo, once again explaining their reasoning behind the demands. Back in March, Fir Tree revealed they had increased their stake in Kyushu Railway to 6.1% and planned to submit a shareholder proposal for the company’s annual general meeting, which will be held in June.
Magnetar Capital Chooses Northern Trust for Fund Administration (AssetServicingTimes.com)
Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services has been selected by Magnetar Capital to provide its middle- and back-office fund administration services and regulatory reporting. Founded in 2005, Magnetar Capital is an Illinois-based alternative asset manager. Ernie Rogers, Magnetar Capital COO and CFO, said: “Given the volume and intricacy of our strategies, we needed a partner that could evolve alongside our operational demands and support a wide array of investor services. We selected Northern Trust for its unique combination of technology, operational excellence and industry expertise.”
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Funds Sell Oil as Economic Fears Trump Supply Threats: Kemp (Reuters)
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) – Hedge funds continued to liquidate some of their bullish position in oil last week as concerns about the economy and the outlook for consumption outweighed escalating tensions and the threat to supplies in the Middle East. Hedge funds and other money managers cut their combined net long position in the six major petroleum futures and options contracts by 19 million barrels in the week to May 14. Fund managers have now cut their net long position for three weeks running, by a total of 61 million barrels, after raising it 609 million barrels over the previous 15 weeks since Jan. 8.
Exclusive: Elliott Management Opposes Airline Azul on Avianca Brasil Bankruptcy Plan (Reuters)
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management is opposing a new plan by Brazilian airline Azul SA to purchase some of the routes operated by financially troubled rival Avianca Brasil for $145 million, according to a legal document seen by Reuters. Elliott, known in Latin America for forcing Argentina into bigger repayments on defaulted bonds, is Avianca Brasil’s largest creditor by a wide margin, with claims totaling almost $490 million.
Hedge Funds Bet the Sell-off is Over: ‘Correction Has Run Its Course’ (CNBC)
The majority of U.S. hedge funds aren’t expecting another big stock market sell-off as more firms curb bets on equity volatility, according to analysis at Nomura. Despite a deterioration in U.S.-China trade relations and a stock sell-off starting in early May and continuing through Monday, many American hedge funds have closed positions betting on a rise in the Cboe Volatility Index within the last week. Those diminished bets for volatility suggest that some of Wall Street’s biggest players believe the equity decline is finally over, according to strategist Masanari Takada.
Opalesque Roundup: Hedge Funds Fail to Turn February’s Net Inflows Into a Two-Month Trend, But AUM Bounces Back in April: Hedge Fund News, Week 18 (Opalesque.com)
In the week ending May 17th 2019, a report by BarclayHedge said that hedge funds extended their run of positive returns to four straight months in April following a five-month string of aggregate declines closing out 2018, and returning 1.21% for the month. That compared with the S&P 500 Total Return Index rising 2.85% in April. For the-year-to date through the end of April hedge funds returned 6.86% while the S&P was up 19.32%. EVestment said hedge funds gained an average of +1.26% in April. In the meantime, HFRI said that with all round gains across all main strategies led by Event-Driven and Macro in April, Hedge funds extended gains from the strongest 1Q since 2006.
Sunday Strategist: A Hedge Fund Willing to Share the Downside (Bloomberg)
A fascinating hedge-fund experiment is underway in Singapore. Vulpes Investment Management set up a new fund in which it promised to absorb the first 2% of any loss. Instead of a standard 2% management fee, it will charge just .75%. Meanwhile, investors can further limit their downside (and upside) by identifying in advance as…
Coatue May Lead $120 mn Funding in Faasos Parent (LiveMint)
New York-based technology hedge fund Coatue Management is in talks to lead a $120 million funding round in Mumbai-based Rebel Foods, best known for its Faasos brand of cloud kitchens, said three people aware of the matter on the condition of anonymity. A potential deal would mark Coatue’s second investment in India. The company, founded by Philippe Laffont, invested a total of about $100 million across two rounds in food delivery startup Swiggy last year, which was last valued at $3.3 billion.
Monday 5/20 Insider Buying Report: QRTEA, HIL (Nasdaq.com)
At Qurate Retail (QRTEA), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Chairman of the Board Gregory B. Maffei purchased 50,000 shares of QRTEA, for a cost of $12.75 each, for a total investment of $637,555. Maffei was up about 6.3% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with QRTEA trading as high as $13.55 in trading on Monday. Qurate Retail is trading off about 0.1% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Maffei made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $1.25M shares at a cost of $12.49 a piece. And on Thursday, Director James M. Chadwick purchased $516,580 worth of Hill International (HIL), purchasing 225,581 shares at a cost of $2.29 each.
A Director at 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) is Buying Shares (AnalystRatings)
Today, a Director at 3M Company (MMM), David Dillon, bought shares of MMM for $203.4K. This recent transaction increases David Dillon’s holding in the company by 28.94% to a total of $904.1K. This is Dillon’s first transaction since reporting a Sell transaction on KR back in March 2011. MMM’s market cap is $97.47B and the company has a P/E ratio of 17.93. Currently, 3M Company has an average volume of 1.25M. The Company has a Price to Book ratio of 10.0451.
Notable Insider Buys This Past Week: Coty, Symantec and More (Benzinga)
Here’s a look at a few notable insider purchases reported in the past week, but also note that frequent purchasers Richard Kinder, executive board chair at Kinder Morgan Inc KMI 0.2%, and Opko Health Inc. OPK 2.44% CEO Phillip Frost continued their buying streaks as well. Hain Celestial: Hain Celestial Group Inc HAIN 3.15% had a director make a few more notable indirect share purchases this past week. At $23.08 to $24.47 apiece, the more than 2.08 million shares acquired totaled nearly $49.19 million. The stake was listed as over 2.21 million shares, which compares with more than 104 million shares outstanding.
The COO and President (TruBridge) of Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPSI) is Selling Shares (AnalystRatings)
Today, the COO and President (TruBridge) of Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (CPSI), Christopher Fowler, sold shares of CPSI for $44.99K. In addition to Christopher Fowler, 3 other CPSI executives reported Sell trades in the last month. CPSI’s market cap is $384.5M and the company has a P/E ratio of 22.16. Currently, Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. has an average volume of 98.99K.
Insider Activity: Wayfair (W) Board Member Buys $423k in Stock (InvestorsObserver.com)
Michael Andrew Kumin, a member of the board of directors at Wayfair (W), bought 3,000 shares of the company’s common stock on May 14. At $141.04 per share, Kumin paid a total of $423,120 for the new shares.
