Citadel Securities Expands an Already Dominant Options Business (Bloomberg)
Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities, already a giant in trading U.S. stock options, has a plan to gobble up even more market share in this key derivatives business. The market maker has assembled a seven-person team, led by former Deutsche Bank AG Managing Director David Silber, to win order flow from institutional investors. Launched in January, the venture buys and sells exchange-traded options tied to individual U.S. stocks and equity indexes on behalf of those customers.
John Paulson Wins Big in Tough Markets Like the Financial Crisis — Here’s What He’s Betting on Now (CNBC)
John Paulson is renowned for his bets against the U.S. housing market prior to the financial crisis, which made him billions of dollars as the subprime mortgage lending system collapsed more than a decade ago. As global stock markets shudder in the face of the coronavirus threat, CNBC Pro looked at what Paulson & Co. is betting on now in today’s volatile environment. The New York-based investment adviser manages about $9 billion.
Scaramucci: Quant Hedge Fund Strategies Have Been Hurt by Monetary Policy (Yahoo Finance)
Yahoo Finance’s Julie Hyman, Adam Shapiro, Kristin Myers, Anthony Scaramucci – Fmr. White House Communications Director and Greg Zuckerman – The Wall Street Journal Special Writer, The Man Who Solved The Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Author discuss how the Volker rule impacts quant strategies.
Previously Delightful Neighborly Dispute Takes Inevitable Turn To The Dark And Gross (Deal Breaker)
Given the sheer breadth of the allegations variously lobbed at one another by retiring hedge fund manager Louis Bacon and his Bahamian neighbor, Canadian discount fashion mogul Peter Nygard, over the past decade-plus, it’s easy to the think there is hardly a crime or immorality alleged against one side or both left. After all, Bacon has accused Nygard of environmental degradation, defamation, a campaign of terror and physical violence, vandalism, breaking-and-entering, contempt of court, arson, buying off the Bahamian government and attempted murder, and Nygard has responded with allegations of Ku Klux Klan grand wizardry, deployment of military-grade speakers, narcotics dealing, insider-trading, weaponized journalism, arson, buying off the Bahamian government, attempted murder and actual murder.
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Alden Takes Stake in Lee After BH Media News (NewsandTech.com)
Hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s MNG Enterprises has taken a 5.9% stake in Lee Enterprises. The move came on the heels of the Jan. 29 announcement that Lee is buying Warren Buffett’s BH Media Group publications and The Buffalo News for $140 million in cash. Various media watchers reacted to the news. Nieman Lab Director Joshua Benton took a dim view of the news, while the NewsGuild’s Julia Reynolds provided info on MNG’s background, parts of which are “shrouded in secrecy,” claims Reynolds.
This Hedge Fund Made 43% Returns Last Year – the Hard Way (Bloomberg)
Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. investment banker Klaus Umek has a simple strategy for his hedge fund: seek out complex investments. After a timely bet on Germany’s Comdirect Bank AG raked in stellar profits last year, the founder of Petrus Advisers Ltd is seeking other investments where several steps are needed to unlock value.
Q4 2019 Hedge Fund Asset Flows (Preqin)
Hedge funds recorded $15.4bn in net outflows in the final quarter of 2019, extending their run of outflows to seven consecutive quarters – stretching all the way back to Q2 2018. Although hedge funds lost a total of $97.2bn over the year, performance gains helped to offset this and industry assets under management reached an all-time high at the end of 2019. With total assets of $3.66tn, the industry has grown by 5.9% since the end of 2018. Equity strategies enjoyed their first quarter since Q3 2018 with a positive net flow, despite only 39% of funds receiving capital inflows over Q4 2019. Buoyed by significant performance gains throughout the year, equity strategies are now poised to become only the second top-level strategy to exceed $1tn in total assets.
