John Paulson Seeks to Shut Down Wife’s Suit Alleging Hidden Billions (Bloomberg)
John Paulson is seeking to shut down his wife Jenica’s lawsuit accusing him of shielding billions of dollars in assets from their divorce, claiming she’s the one who’s engaged in a “selfish money grab.” Lawyers for Paulson, 66, will appear in court Thursday to urge a New York judge to dismiss his wife’s suit. In court filings, they say that Jenica Paulson knew all along about trusts she claims he used to hide assets because they were included in nearly two decades of joint tax returns that she signed.
Audacious BlackRock Challenge is Bluebell’s David vs Goliath Playbook (Reuters)
Bluebell Capital Partners’ attempt to oust BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) CEO Larry Fink represents the small activist hedge fund’s boldest bet that its punch-above-weight strategy could deliver a financial win, even if its push for changes faces long odds. In the three years since its launch, Bluebell has challenged the policies and executives of some of the world’s biggest companies, including GSK Plc (GSK.L), Glencore Plc (GLEN.L), Vivendi SE (VIV.PA) and Danone SA (DANO.PA), while owning very small stakes.
Hedge Fund Presidio Trading to Spin Out Crypto Market Tail Risk Strategy (CoinDesk)
Presidio Trading, a quantitative hedge fund focused on trading digital assets, plans to separate its crypto tail risk strategy into a standalone fund, the company said. The decision follows the strategy’s strong performance this year, the firm said. In June, the strategy returned about 560% while the overall fund added 4%. Ether (ETH) fell 44% and bitcoin (BTC) dropped 37% in the same period. “Many current and prospective investors in our multi-strategy fund were interested in learning about our tail risk strategy and if we could provide them with access to the strategy through a standalone vehicle,” said Christoper Kvamme, founder and CEO of Presidio Trading.
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A COO for Protean’s Growth Journey (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – The founding duo of the newly-launched Swedish hedge fund Protean Select has appointed Daniel Mackey as the Chief Operating Officer of the fund management company. Mackey brings years of operating experience from roles as a chief financial officer at both private and listed companies, as well as several senior positions in fund administration. “We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Daniel Mackey as the COO of Protean Funds,” Pontus Dackmo and Carl Gustafsson, the founding duo of Protean Select, announce on LinkedIn.
Hedge Fund Redemptions Spike in September, But Slow Quarter on Quarter (Hedge Week)
Hedge fund redemptions grew in September to $48.59 billion (0.98% of industry assets), according to the Barclay Fund Flow Indicator published by BarclayHedge. A $185.16 billion trading loss during the month brought total hedge fund industry assets to $4.71 trillion as September ended. Except for a handful of sub-sectors, net redemptions were the norm across the hedge fund industry in September with only three sub-sectors managing to buck the trend: Option Strategies funds, attracting approximately $420 million (0.79% of assets); Emerging Markets – Asia funds added approximately $350 million (0.22% of assets); and Merger Arbitrage funds which brought in approximately $170 million (0.15% of assets).
Former Elliott Exec’s Sparta Pushes Wood Group for Buybacks (Bloomberg)
Former Elliott Investment Management executive Franck Tuil’s Sparta Capital Management is calling on consulting and engineering group John Wood Group Plc to pursue buybacks to boost its lagging stock price. Wood Group is “substantially undervalued” against global peers and has the potential for “well over 100%” upside, London-based Sparta Capital wrote in a letter to John Wood’s board Thursday. The company’s current share price makes it vulnerable to opportunistic takeover bids, Tuil wrote.
Month in Review – November 2022 (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After a difficult end to the third quarter, Nordic hedge funds are enjoying a strong fourth quarter. The Nordic hedge fund industry as measured by the Nordic Hedge Index booked an average gain of 1.2 percent in November following an advance of 1.5 percent in October, trimming the year-to-date decline to 5.9 percent. Trend-following CTAs, this year’s top-performing strategy group in the Nordic Hedge Index, gave up some of their earlier gains in November to end the first 11 months of the year up 5.0 percent. After a difficult first three quarters in 2022, fixed-income funds gained 3.1 percent on average in November amid a robust recovery in bond markets in general.
Carolina Panthers Owner Tepper Settles Dispute Over Training Facility (Bloomberg)
Billionaire Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper and his real estate company settled a dispute with York County, South Carolina, over now-scrapped plans to build a training facility for the National Football League team. The dispute concerned the transfer of $21.2 million from the county to GT Real Estate Holdings, the Tepper company that was building the facility, and affiliates like Appaloosa Management, Tepper Sports Holding and DT Sports Holding. The county had sued Tepper and his companies over the use of the funds, and local law enforcement officials began a criminal investigation earlier this month.
Thursday 12/8 Insider Buying Report: HPK, MMS (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, HighPeak Energy’s President, Michael L. Hollis, made a $699,477 buy of HPK, purchasing 31,825 shares at a cost of $21.98 a piece. So far Hollis is in the green, up about 4.6% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $22.99. HighPeak Energy is trading up about 4.7% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Hollis bought HPK on 2 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $1.02M at an average of $21.83 per share. And at MAXIMUS, there was insider buying on Wednesday, by Director Raymond B. Ruddy who purchased 5,730 shares for a cost of $69.91 each, for a trade totaling $400,584. Before this latest buy, Ruddy made one other purchase in the past twelve months, buying $1.00M shares at a cost of $57.72 a piece. MAXIMUS is trading up about 2.1% on the day Thursday. So far Ruddy is in the green, up about 1.8% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $71.20.
$49.5 Million Bet On Howard Hughes? Check Out These 4 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Howard Hughes: The Trade: The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) Director William Ackman bought a total of 657,160 shares at an average price of $75.26. To acquire these shares, it cost around $49.45 million. Datadog: The Trade: Datadog, Inc. DDOG Director Matthew Jacobson acquired a total of 192,154 shares an average price of $69.35. To acquire these shares, it cost around $13.33 million.
