Hedge Fund Lansdowne to Shut $2.8 billion Main Long-short Strategy (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – London-based Lansdowne Partners is closing its main hedge fund, a long-short strategy that manages $2.8 billion in assets under management, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The closure of the Lansdowne Developed Markets Fund follows losses of 23% in the January-June period. It earned returns of 1.3% in 2019 and losses of 7% in 2018, said the source.
Fallen Hedge Fund’s Head Among Investors Getting PPP Relie (Bloomberg)
Jacob Gottlieb, whose $8 billion hedge fund shut amid an insider trading scandal, is among Wall Street money managers who tapped the government’s $669 billion emergency program designed to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic, according to federal data released Monday. Gottlieb, whose Visium Asset Management settled a regulatory probe two years ago, received a $150,000 to $350,000 loan for his new shop, Altium Capital Management, under the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the data posted online. He set up New York-based Altium two years ago, according to his LinkedIn profile. It’s unclear whether the firm has outside clients.
Multimillionaire and Highland Capital Founder James Dondero’s Investment Platform Managing Billions Got Approved for as Much as $8 million in Loans from the PPP (Business Insider)
Five companies linked to Texas multimillionaire James Dondero received approval for loans of as much as $8.4 million from a government program meant to help small businesses continue paying their employees during the economic slowdown. Dondero is the founder of Highland Capital Management, a Dallas-based investment firm overseeing billions of dollars in assets.
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Ray Dalio Needn’t Worry That Markets Aren’t Free (Bloomberg)
Ray Dalio is onto something — but his overall concerns are largely misplaced. Yes, the huge expansion of central banks’ balance sheets in response to the Covid-19 crisis means that central planning, rather than market forces, is largely driving financial markets. This doesn’t necessarily mean, as the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund worried aloud last week, that capital markets “are not free.” It’s beyond dispute that the government-coordinated shutdowns have (in most cases appropriately) put public-health concerns ahead of free enterprise. It’s also true that these shutdowns have caused huge strains in liquidity across the world economy.
Minority Owner Steve Cohen Moves Up As Top Bidder To Buy NY Mets (Forbes)
Even with a pandemic raging and a Basic Agreement expiring, the sale of the New York Mets remains on the front burner. With a Thursday deadline for bids, minority owner Steve Cohen wants to sink billions into the Queens-based franchise. Slugger-turned-broadcaster Alex Rodriguez, in concert with celebrity fiancee Jennifer Lopez, wants to convert his New York pedigree from the American League to the National.
Equity HFs Enter Positive Territory (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After two quarters of head-spinning market moves, Nordic equity hedge funds ended the first half of 2020 up 0.4 percent on average. Equity hedge funds gained 1.8 percent in June (90 percent reported), which brought the group’s average return for the second quarter to 9.5 percent. Global equity markets gained 1.9 percent in Euro terms in June, cutting the year-to-date losses to 6.3 percent. Markets started the month of June strongly, but the mood changed mid-month after a fairly downbeat economic assessment from the U.S. Federal Reserve and growing fears of a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hedge Fund Sloane Robinson to Shut (Bloomberg)
Another hedge fund titan is closing its doors. London mainstay Sloane Robinson is winding down, according to an investor letter seen by Bloomberg. It is the latest victim of a tough money-raising environment that’s caused a string of hedge fund liquidations. Bloomberg’s Dani Burger reports on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Hedge Funds See “Little to No Profit” from Betting Against UK Supermarkets, as Short Trades Go Awry During Lockdown (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds that built major short positions against UK supermarkets at the start of the coronavirus lockdown have seen their bets go awry as share prices in the sector remained resilient. Several high-profile hedge fund managers made sizable wagers against the likes of Sainsbury’s and Morrisons earlier in the year, with marquee names such as Pelham Capital, BlackRock and Citadel Europe among those making the biggest bets.
Casella Waste Systems Inc (CWST) President & COO Edwin D Johnson Sold $1.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
President & COO of Casella Waste Systems Inc, Edwin D Johnson, sold 30,000 shares of CWST on 07/07/2020 at an average price of $52.22 a share. The total sale was $1.6 million. Casella Waste Systems Inc is a vertically-integrated solid waste, recycling, and resource management services company.
Tuesday 7/7 Insider Buying Report: WTI, COLB (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, W & T Offshore’s Director, Virginia Boulet, made a $40,927 purchase of WTI, buying 18,604 shares at a cost of $2.20 each. Bargain hunters have the opportunity to snag WTI even cheaper than Boulet did, with the stock trading as low as $2.12 at last check today — that’s 3.5% under Boulet’s purchase price. W & T Offshore is trading off about 1.4% on the day Tuesday. Before this latest buy, Boulet bought WTI on 2 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $44,562 at an average of $2.10 per share. And on Thursday, EVP and General Counsel Kumi Yamamoto Baruffi bought $8,597 worth of Columbia Banking System, buying 337 shares at a cost of $25.51 each. This purchase marks the first one filed by Baruffi in the past year. Columbia Banking System Inc is trading down about 1.6% on the day Tuesday. So far Baruffi is in the green, up about 5.7% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $26.97.
Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR) CEO Michael Hsing Sold $6.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Monolithic Power Systems Inc, Michael Hsing, sold 27,500 shares of MPWR on 07/06/2020 at an average price of $238.9 a share. The total sale was $6.6 million. Monolithic Power Systems Inc is a provider of high-performance power solutions. These solutions are found in industrial applications, telecommunication infrastructures, cloud computing, automotive, and consumer applications.
