Former Tory Backer John Armitage Makes Donation to Keir Starmer (The Times)
A hedge-fund manager who gave £3.1 million to the Conservatives has now made a personal donation of £12,500 to Sir Keir Starmer. The Labour leader has succeeded in securing the financial backing of John Armitage, co-founder of the hedge fund Egerton Capital. Armitage, 62, a British billionaire who recently acquired Irish citizenship, sits in joint 149th position on the Sunday Times rich list.
Sears Holdings Reaches $175M Settlement with Lampert and Company (Retail Dive)
Dive Brief: After nearly four years in bankruptcy, Sears Holdings and its one-time creditors said they have reached a settlement with its former CEO and majority owner Eddie Lampert and other investors. If approved by a federal bankruptcy judge, the settlement could resolve years-long litigation filed against Lampert and other defendants over allegations of asset stripping and “rank” self-dealing in the years leading to Sears Holdings’ 2018 bankruptcy.
SEC Investigating Melvin Capital Management (The Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Melvin Capital Management risk controls and investor disclosure after the hedge fund was crippled by the meme-stock rally last year, said people familiar with the matter. The regulator has contacted investors in the hedge fund in recent months as part of an investigation into what Melvin founder Gabriel Plotkin and other senior executives told them in the wake of the meme-stock rally in January 2021, and whether it misled investors when it raised money last year.
Copyright: rawpixel / 123RF Stock Photo
Top Fundraising Challenges for Hedge Funds and How to Overcome Them (Preqin)
Uncertainty lies ahead for the hedge fund asset class given the monetary policy changes and geopolitical tensions experienced in 2022 so far. These have a direct impact on allocations, with investors becoming more cautious and ultimately impacting managers’ ability to fundraise. Below, we look at the top three challenges hedge funds face in today’s fundraising market and provide key solutions to overcome them. Allocators are planning to commit less capital to hedge funds: According to Preqin Pro, 79% of investors are intending to invest less than $50mn (the smallest allocation size) of fresh capital in hedge funds over the next 12 months, compared with 74% of investors in Q1 2022.
BlackRock Launches Spot Bitcoin Private Trust for U.S. Clients (Reuters)
(Reuters) – BlackRock Inc, the world’s biggest asset manager, has launched a spot bitcoin private trust for institutional clients in the United States, according to a blog post on its website. The trust will track the performance of bitcoin, offering direct exposure to the price of the digital currency, BlackRock said.
Oaktree, Array Technologies Board Hit With Insider Trading Suit (Bloomberg Law)
An Array Technologies Inc. investor filed suit in Delaware against its board and backers at Oaktree Capital Management LP, claiming they sold $2.2 billion worth of stock at prices inflated by their scheme to hide the impact of rising steel prices on the company’s bottom line. The partly redacted lawsuit, made public Tuesday, targets Array’s founder, nine current and former members of its board and management, and seven entities associated with Oaktree, itself an affiliate of Canadian private equity giant Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
Andersen Capital Selects Proteus to Structure and Operate New Hedge Fund (Hedge Week)
Proteus has been selected to complement Andersen Capital Managements SMA platform with a technology-enabled, private fund platform supporting the launch of Andersen’s new Weather Mark Long/Short investment strategy. Andersen will take advantage of Proteus’ best-in-class technology, operational rigor, and related infrastructure to seamlessly offer their investment strategies to Accredited and Qualified clientele.
Hedge Fund Industry AuM Declined by $78.8bn in H1-2022 (Opalesque)
Hedge funds faced a challenging half-year during H1 2022 as geopolitical and macro-economic events sparked market chaos and a rare, concerted sell-off in stocks and bonds, according to the With Intelligence Spotlight Report “Hedge Funds in H1 2022”. However, this is not the sudden shock of Covid-hit H1 2020 but rather a steady, negative development during the past three quarters. Hedge funds have still fared better than US large-cap stocks, for example, and there is an opportunity to take advantage of the volatility and weak economic forecasts and outperform.
Wednesday 8/10 Insider Buying Report: CRK, KD (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, Comstock Resources’ Vice President of Operations, Patrick McGough, made a $427,968 buy of CRK, purchasing 28,800 shares at a cost of $14.86 a piece. McGough was up about 8.0% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with CRK trading as high as $16.05 at last check today. Comstock Resources is trading up about 1.1% on the day Wednesday. This purchase marks the first one filed by McGough in the past twelve months. And on Friday, Howard I. Ungerleider purchased $211,752 worth of Kyndryl Holdings, purchasing 20,000 shares at a cost of $10.59 a piece. Kyndryl Holdings Inc is trading up about 3.8% on the day Wednesday. So far Ungerleider is in the green, up about 9.1% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $11.55.
$7.5 Million Bet On This Biotechnology Stock? Check Out These 4 Penny Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Sonim Technologies: The Trade: Sonim Technologies, Inc. (SONM) 10% owner AJP Holding Company LLC bought a total of 5,534,881 shares at an average price of $0.84. To acquire these shares, it cost around $4.65 million. Poseida Therapeutics: The Trade: Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. (PSTX) 10% owner Malin Life Sciences Holdings Ltd acquired a total of 2,150,000 shares at an average price of $3.50. The insider spent $7.53 million to buy those shares.
SEC Awards More Than $16 Million to Two Whistleblowers (HedgeCo.net)
The first whistleblower prompted the opening of the investigation and provided information on difficult-to-detect violations. This whistleblower also identified key witnesses and provided critical information, which helped staff in their investigation. As a result, this whistleblower will receive an award of approximately $13 million. The second whistleblower submitted important new information during the course of the investigation and will receive an award of more than $3 million.
