World’s Top 10 Hedge Fund Managers Earn $20.1 Billion in 2020 (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Millennium Management’s Israel Englander earned $3.8 billion last year, landing him the biggest payday of any hedge fund manager in 2020, showed data from Institutional Investor. Englander more than doubled his $1.5 billion payday in 2019 and made $2 billion more than the previous year’s rich list leaders Chris Hohn and Jim Simons, while making gains of 26% for his investors.
Elliott to Take Stake in Insurer Principal Financial (Bloomberg)
Principal Financial Group Inc. said it plans to launch a strategic review and appoint two new independent directors as part of a settlement agreement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management. The New York-based hedge fund has been pushing the company to explore selling or spinning off its more capital-intensive life insurance business to focus on its more profitable wealth management operations, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. The company said in a statement Monday as part of the deal with Elliott it had struck a committee to initiate a strategic review of its business mix, capital management, and capital deployment options.
Starboard SPAC Nears $3.4 Billion Deal for Data-Center Company Cyxtera (The Wall Street Journal)
A special-purpose acquisition company backed by shareholder activist Starboard Value LP is nearing a deal to combine with data-center provider Cyxtera Technologies Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Starboard Value Acquisition Corp. is discussing a deal that would value Cyxtera at around $3.4 billion including debt, the people said. It could be finalized by Monday assuming the talks don’t fall apart, they said.
Copyright: welcomia / 123RF Stock Photo
25 Highest-Paid Hedge Fund Managers Made $32 billion in 2020, a Record (CNBC)
The 25 highest-paid hedge fund managers made a record $32 billion in 2020, up more than 50% over 2019, according to Institutional Investor’s Rich List. A total of 15 hedge fund managers made $1 billion or more, compared with only eight in 2019. The big gains during the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the public debate over hedge funds in the wake of the GameStop controversy, is likely to draw criticism from lawmakers and the public over hedge fund pay and fairness in financial markets.
Hedge Funds Clash Over Tech Stocks: SEC Filings (Forbes)
Many well-known funds have filed their 13Fs within the last week or so, and it seems clear that tech stocks aren’t the be-all, end-all they were last year. Many hedge funds sold or reduced their tech names positions, while others bought and added to them. For example, there was a lot of action on Alphabet running in both directions. Prem Watsa‘s Fairfax Financial Holdings LPLA +1.9% added to its stake in Alphabet, as did Baupost, Adage Capital Partners, D1 Capital Partners, Maverick, Melvin Capital, Soros Fund, and Dorsey Asset Management.
Man GLG’s Flamand Urges Market Neutral Tilt as Inflation Risk Looms Amid Equities “Euphoria” (Hedge Week)
Inflation is the next big risk facing the nascent economic recovery, and equity investors should be “exceptionally selective” in their exposures, tilting portfolios towards market neutral strategies that will help avoid excessive beta risk, says Man Group’s Pierre-Henri Flamand. Flamand – CIO emeritus and senior investment adviser at Man GLG, the discretionary hedge fund unit of London-listed investment giant Man Group – believes UK, European and Asian markets now offer attractive relative value stockpicking opportunities away from the “equity euphoria” seen Stateside.
Norway’s $1.3 Trillion Fund May Be Facing a Major ESG Handicap (Bloomberg)
Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund, the world’s biggest, is handicapped in chasing its environmental, social and governance investment goals by the political process, according to Global SWF. The lengthy decision-making that determines which asset classes Norway’s investing behemoth can buy puts it at a disadvantage compared with smaller money managers, “in particular” regarding ESG, according to Diego Lopez, a managing director at the independent group. Global SWF provides data and analysis on more than 400 sovereign investors and public pension funds.
Arlington Capital Partners Announces Strategic Minority Investment by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Businesswire.com)
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Arlington Capital Partners (“Arlington”), a leading middle market private equity firm, today announced a passive, non-voting, minority equity investment by Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (“GSAM”) Petershill program, creating a strategic relationship with one of the world’s leading investment managers and accelerating Arlington’s growth and success. The investment follows a multi-decade relationship between Goldman Sachs and Arlington in which GSAM has been a limited partner investor in Arlington’s funds. The transaction will have no impact on the day-to-day operations or management of Arlington.
Monday 2/22 Insider Buying Report: TLIS, SONA (Nasdaq.com)
At Talis Biomedical, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Director Matthew L. Posard bought 62,500 shares of TLIS, at a cost of $16.00 each, for a total investment of $1M. Posard was up about 53.0% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with TLIS trading as high as $24.48 in trading on Monday. Talis Biomedical is trading up about 5.7% on the day Monday. This buy marks the first one filed by Posard in the past year. And also on Wednesday, EVP, CFO Matthew Alan Switzer bought $644,000 worth of Southern National Bancorp Of Virginia, buying 50,000 shares at a cost of $12.88 each. This purchase marks the first one filed by Switzer in the past twelve months. Southern National Bancorp Of Virginia is trading up about 1.7% on the day Monday. So far Switzer is in the green, up about 6.1% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $13.67.
Insider Trading: February 22, 2021 (BIV.com)
Insider Peter John Bonner, director. Company: Madison Pacific Properties Inc. (TSX:MPC). Shares owned: 653,413. Trade date: February 5. Trade total: $496,830. Trade: Acquisition of 139,559 shares at a price of $3.56 per share. Insider Laurent Mathiot, 10% owner. Company: Orea Mining Corp. (TSX:OREA). Shares owned: 19,334,500. Trade date: February 4, 5, 8. Trade total: $319,750. Trade: Sale of 2,185,000 shares at a price of $0.14 to $0.15 per share.
The Past Week’s Notable Insider Buys: More Biotech IPOs, Bumble, Fiserv And More (Benzinga)
Here are some of the most noteworthy insider purchases that were reported in the past week. Talis Biomedical Corp (TLIS) saw its chief financial officer acquire almost 1,700 shares in its initial public offering, while other insiders bought more than 6.63 million shares altogether. At an offering price of $16.00 per share, the total for all these purchases came to over $106.22 million. Decibel Therapeutics Inc (DBTX) had a 10% owner and two directors buy shares of in its IPO. The more than 2.39 million shares acquired, at $18.00 apiece, totaled nearly $43.05 million. The stock has traded as high as $24.39 so far, but it closed most recently at $19.05 per share.
The Walt Disney Co (DIS) SEVP & Chief Comms Officer Zenia B. Mucha Sold $6.2 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
SEVP & Chief Comms Officer of The Walt Disney Co, Zenia B. Mucha, sold 33,969 shares of DIS on 02/18/2021 at an average price of $183.12 a share. The total sale was $6.2 million. Walt Disney Co together with its subsidiaries is a diversified worldwide entertainment company with operations in four business segments: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, and Consumer Products & Interactive Media.
The Vice-President of Operations of Empower Clinics (Other OTC: EPWCF) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the Vice-President of Operations of Empower Clinics (EPWCF), Andrea Klein, sold shares of EPWCF for $2.54M. In addition to Andrea Klein, 2 other EPWCF executives reported Sell trades in the last month. EPWCF’s market cap is $263 million and the company has a P/E ratio of -35.10. The company has a one-year high of $1.42 and a one-year low of $0.01. The insider sentiment on Empower Clinics has been negative according to 13 insider trades in the past three months. This sentiment is lower than the average sentiment of company insiders in this sector.
