Hintze’s CQS Cuts at Least 50 Jobs as Hedge Fund Retrenches (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund firm CQS has slashed at least 50 jobs in an overhaul, as billionaire founder Michael Hintze retrenches to focus on core credit trading strategies. The cuts are mainly concentrated in sales and support areas, but have also affected trading teams focused on asset-backed securities, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. CQS is seeking to reduce costs following a slump in high-fee earning hedge fund assets, the people said. The firm employed more than 280 people globally at the start of December, according to a letter to investors seen by Bloomberg.
Ken Griffin to Get Hit with $1.3M Tax Bill for Record-Breaking Condo (TheRealDeal.com)
The most expensive home in Chicago comes with a 2019 tax bill to match. Hedge fund mogul and real estate collector Ken Griffin in July will receive a $1.3 million tax bill on his $58.75 million spread at No. 9 Walton, according to Crain’s. At this time last year, when the condo at JDL Development’s ultra-luxury tower was not yet finished, his 2018 tax bill came in at about $139,000, the outlet reported.
Ray Dalio: If I Were a Young Adult During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Here’s What I Would Focus On (CNBC)
When Ray Dalio was in his late 20s in 1975, he founded Bridgewater Associates out of his two-bedroom New York City apartment. He faced a series of failures and nearly ran Bridgewater into the ground in 1982, but today, it’s the world’s largest hedge fund. And at 70 years old, Dalio is worth about $18 billion. In a recent LinkedIn post, the billionaire answered a series of questions he’s been asked on various social media platforms. One person asked: “If you were a young adult in this quarantine, what would you do to better yourself?” Dalio would focus on three things: “I’d feed my curiosities, stay in touch with people I care about and meditate,” he writes.
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Journal Profile: Jason Karp’s Health Kick Felt Far and Wide (BizJournals.com)
After entering the high-stress hedge fund world, former Ivy League squash player Jason Karp began suffering mysterious ailments, including chronic inflammation, rapid hair loss and eczema all over his body. A doctor said he might go blind. So Karp took his health into his own hands, a long and winding path that eventually led to Austin, a new kind of CPG company and a funding deal with a local billionaire.
Hedge Fund Manager in Sweden Reveals His Best Pharma Bets (Bloomberg)
The founding partner at a Swedish hedge fund that’s delivered more than 700% over the past decade is a big fan of Roche Holding AG and thinks there’ll be about 10 Covid-19 vaccines in a year’s time. Henrik Rhenman oversees $814 million at Rhenman Healthcare Equity L/S. His euro-denominated portfolio has made a total of 718% since he launched his fund in 2009. Over the same period, krona investments delivered 550%.
Hedge Fund Short-sellers Seize on Wirecard Woes, as e-payment Firm’s Shares Collapse Amid Deepening Accounts Riddle (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds are circling Wirecard AG, the troubled German electronic payment processing company, which saw its share price plummet further on Friday morning (19 June) following revelations of alleged accounting imbalances. The Munich-headquartered company revealed this week that some EUR1.9 billion worth of reported cash balances – an estimated quarter of its total balance sheet – could not be verified by auditor EY. Shares in the DAX 30-listed firm crashed following the statement, sliding from EUR100.40 on Thursday to under EUR20 at one point on Friday morning. Wirecard is now a key a target of several short-sellers, with well-known hedge funds including Marshall Wace, TCI Fund Management, Argonaut Capital, Greenvale Capital and Slate Path Capital building bearish bets against the firm.
Friday 6/19 Insider Buying Report: PURE, PK (Nasdaq.com)
At Pure Bioscience, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Tom Y. Lee purchased 202,033 shares of PURE, at a cost of $1.74 each, for a total investment of $351,871. So far Lee is in the green, up about 13.7% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $1.98. Pure Bioscience is trading up about 3.3% on the day Friday. Before this latest buy, Lee purchased PURE on 2 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $508,161 at an average of $0.29 per share. And on Monday, Thomas A. Natelli purchased $224,175 worth of Park Hotels & Resorts, purchasing 20,000 shares at a cost of $11.21 a piece. Before this latest buy, Natelli bought PK at 3 other times during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $273,350 at an average of $15.19 per share. Park Hotels & Resorts is trading up about 1.5% on the day Friday.
Williams-Sonoma Inc (WSM) PRESIDENT & CEO Laura Alber Sold $1.3 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
PRESIDENT & CEO of Williams-Sonoma Inc, Laura Alber, sold 15,000 shares of WSM on 06/16/2020 at an average price of $84.17 a share. The total sale was $1.3 million. Williams-Sonoma Inc is a multi-channel specialty retailer of home furnishings in the United States and Canada. Its segments include e-commerce and retail. Williams-Sonoma Inc has a market cap of $6.7 billion; its shares were traded at around $86.15 with a P/E ratio of 20.12 and P/S ratio of 1.16.
Snap Inc (SNAP) CFO Derek Andersen Sold $1.7 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CFO of Snap Inc, Derek Andersen, sold 80,128 shares of SNAP on 06/17/2020 at an average price of $21.21 a share. The total sale was $1.7 million. Snap Inc is a camera application developer. Its main product is Snapchat, a camera application created to help people communicate through short videos and images. It also offers Spectacles, which are camera-enabled sunglasses. Snap Inc has a market cap of $31.79 billion; its shares were traded at around $21.99 with and P/S ratio of 16.57.
A Director at Vector Group (NYSE: VGR) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, a Director at Vector Group (VGR), Bennett Lebow, sold shares of VGR for $1.81M. In addition to Bennett Lebow, 2 other VGR executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Based on Vector Group’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending March 31, the company posted quarterly revenue of $454 million and GAAP net loss of -$3,231,000.
The Challenges Of Prosecuting Congressional Insider Trading (Law360.com)
Law360 (June 18, 2020, 5:32 PM EDT) — Allegations that U.S. senators traded on confidential briefings about COVID-19 have brought new enforcement attention to the rarely used Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK, Act. In a sign of significant escalation, last month the FBI reportedly seized the mobile phone of Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., in connection with one such investigation, even as the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was closing investigations into Sens. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Diane Feinstein, D-Calif.
Deutsche Bank to Pay Over $10 Million to Settle Two CFTC Cases (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced the settlement of two enforcement matters involving Deutsche Bank. In the first matter, Deutsche Bank AG (Deutsche Bank) resolved federal court charges stemming from alleged violations of various swap data reporting and other regulatory violations. In the second matter, the CFTC issued an administrative order against Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (DBSI), filing and settling charges that two of DBSI’s traders engaged in spoofing. According to the order, DBSI manually placed bids or offers on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) with the intent to cancel those bids or offers before execution, an illegal practice known as spoofing.
