Valaris Settles with Luminus, Hands Board Seat to Hedge Fund (Reuters)
BOSTON (Reuters) – Oil drilling firm Valaris PLC reached a settlement with Luminus Management and said on Monday that it has appointed one of the hedge fund’s partners to its board. Luminus’ Adam Weitzman, an expert in offshore oil drilling who has experience in debt and equity capital markets and risk management, will join Valaris’ 11-member board as a 12th director, the company said. The New York-based hedge fund, which owns roughly 18.7% of Valaris’ shares, promised to hold on to a certain number of shares in order to keep the board seat and to support Valaris’ slate at this year’s annual meeting.
New York Imposes $10 Million Tax Bill on Connecticut-based Hedge-Fund Manager (The Wall Street Journal)
New York officials railed against “double taxation” after the U.S. Congress tax overhaul limited how much residents could deduct in state and local taxes from their federal tax bill. But that didn’t stop New York from imposing a $10 million bill for back taxes and interest on a Connecticut hedge-fund manager, who also paid taxes to Connecticut on the same income.
Bill Miller’s Mutual Fund Crushed the Market for a Record 15 Straight Years, and He’s Still Beating His Peers. He Outlined for Us the Top 4 Contrarian Bets He’s Making Right Now (Business Insider)
Mutual fund manager Bill Miller is famous for beating the stock market for a record 15 years in a row in the 1990s and 2000s, and he’s maintained his sterling track record since then. Known as one of the great value investors, Miller focuses on companies that he believes are trading for much less than they are really worth. Asked about his most surprising contrarian investments, Miller named several groups of stocks that endured huge drops because of issues like public controversies or high levels of debt.
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Renaissance Technologies Promotes Founder James Simons’ Son (NewsDay.com)
Renaissance Technologies LLC has named Nathaniel Simons, son of founder James Simons, as co-chair of the pioneering East Setauket hedge fund, according to government filings. Nathaniel Simons, 53, who had been vice chairman at Renaissance, also is a senior managing director of Meritage Group LP, a San Francisco investment firm. The appointment appears to set up a succession framework at the hedge fund. James Simons, 81, retired from day-to-day operations in 2010 and retains the title of non-executive chairman.
Glenn Dubin to Retire from Hedge Fund Firm (Pensions&Investments)
Billionaire manager Glenn Dubin is retiring from running his hedge fund to focus on direct investing through his family office. Mr. Dubin, 62, is turning over management of the $1 billion Engineers Gate to Greg Eisner, he said in an internal memo sent Jan. 24 and seen by Bloomberg. He will step down from the firm at the end of the month. “After 40 years, I am looking forward to transitioning from being an ‘Investment Manager’ to an ‘Investor,'” Dubin wrote in the memo.
Crispin Odey Fund Falters as Hedge Funds Post Best Gains in a Decade (Portfolio Adviser)
Crispin Odey’s flagship European fund sank back into negative territory last year at a time when the hedge fund industry enjoyed its best yearly performance in a decade. Odey European languished near the bottom of funds in the FO Hedge/Structured Product Mixed sector at the end of 2019, after enjoying one of its strongest years in 2018. The €155m (£130.6m) fund lost investors 15.1% in sterling terms, according to data from FE Fundinfo, compared with the sector average of -0.1%. It suffered particularly acute losses in September as its bets on sterling and the oil price came back to bite.
Macro Hedge Fund Manager Coffey to Turn Investors Away (Business Recorder)
Prominent global macro hedge fund manager Greg Coffey will stop accepting fresh cash for his two-year old portfolio at the end of March to prevent any flood of new money from chipping away at his strong returns, an investor familiar with his plans said. Coffey’s Kirkoswald Asset Management, which bets on global equities, bonds, and currencies will close to new investments at the end of the first quarter when assets approach $2 billion, the person said after speaking with the fund manager.
Global Hedge Fund Outlook 2020 (Hedge Week)
2020 Top 10 tech predictions – To introduce the Hedgeweek Global Outlook Report 2020, the team at RFA has made the following 10 predictions on technology and how they might impact the industry over the next 12 months. We took a considered approach before settling on these 10 trends based on what we’ve seen across our client base, the conversations we’ve had (and continue to have) on a daily basis, as well as from research into business drivers and emerging technology: 1. Spend on technology will increase (for successful firms anyway). Studies show that profitable firms spend proportionately more on technology than their counterparts with shrinking margins. Interesting that the old adage “spend to accumulate” is appropriate for technology spend too.
