Citadel’s Griffin Taps Longtime Partner James Yeh as Co-CIO (Bloomberg)
Ken Griffin promoted James Yeh to president and co-chief investment officer at Citadel, tapping a longtime partner to help run the fast-growing hedge fund firm alongside him. Yeh, 53, has been a key player at Citadel since he joined the Chicago-based firm in 1993 as one of its first employees. In his new role, announced on Wednesday, he will oversee the Global Quantitative Strategies business as well as the global fixed income and macro unit.
Tudor Jones Says the Stock Market will ‘Definitely Decline’ If a Democrat Wins the 2020 Election (CNBC)
Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC on Wednesday that the stock market will turn south if any Democrat wins the 2020 presidential election, regardless of the differences in their policy proposals. “I think the stock market will definitely decline because that will assume that it’s going to be accompanied by a raise in taxes,” Jones said on “Squawk Box.”
Two Sigma Launches Portfolio Risk Management Solution for Institutional Investors (Hedge Week)
Two Sigma has launched Venn, a cloud-based investment analysis software platform. Venn was introduced initially on a limited, invite-only basis, but is now available to institutional investors and wealth managers among others. For many institutional investors, the investment process today remains highly qualitative, with a reliance on spreadsheets or other inefficient tools that are slow to provide more complex analysis and can require hours of manual effort to build and maintain. These barriers to data-driven analysis can prevent investment teams from responding to management needs in a timely manner and increase the likelihood of human error.
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com
RenTech’s Billion-Dollar Tax Cloud Darkens After IRS Ruling (Bloomberg)
A little-noticed decision by the Internal Revenue Service’s appeals unit may spell trouble for legendary investor Jim Simons, who’s embroiled in a multibillion-dollar tax dispute with the agency. Reviewing the audit of an investment manager in Connecticut, the IRS Office of Appeals rejected a tax-avoidance maneuver involving so-called basket options. That’s the type of transaction at the heart of a separate, larger case involving Simons’s Renaissance Technologies hedge fund. The decision, made public in a court filing in May, could offer a preview of the tax agency’s reasoning in the Renaissance case.
Private Equity Would Survive Sen. Warren Tax Plan, Says Hedge Fund Manager Richard Robb (CNBC)
Richard Robb, hedge fund manager and Columbia University economics professor, and Mark Zandi, Moody’s chief economist, join “Squawk on the Street” to discuss the Chamber of Commerce’s remarks on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed tax plans.
Battle of the Billionaires: Steyer Jabs Bloomberg, Says ‘I Don’t Think He Should Run’ Without Backing Wealth Tax (Fox News)
CONCORD, N.H. – Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is far from thrilled that fellow billionaire Mike Bloomberg might enter the race for the party’s 2020 nomination. After Steyer filed to place his name on the New Hampshire presidential primary ballot, the one-time hedge fund manager turned billionaire environmental and progressive advocate took a shot at Bloomberg while answering questions from reporters.
Keep Them Coming (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Sector Zen, an Oslo-based long/short equity fund focused on the Japanese stock market, has received another takeover bid for one of its holdings. Machinery and electronics maker Toshiba just announced plans to buy out the minority shareholders of its 52.4-owned subsidiary NuFlare Technology, one of Sector Zen’s holdings. This represents the 36th takeover in the fund’s portfolio since launching in the first half of 2006. According to the Sector Zen team, comprised of investment manager Trond Hermansen and analyst Lars Solberg, more than two-thirds of the fund’s long portfolio include attractively-valued subsidiaries and affiliates of larger parent companies.
Sorin Gives Up Blackstone Role, Winds Down (HFAlert.com)
Sorin Capital, a commercial mortgage bond investor that ran $1.6 billion at its peak, is shutting down after a 15-year run. After liquidating two hedge funds earlier this year, Sorin continued to run a $500 million portfolio for Blackstone. But with Blackstone’s blessing, Sorin transferred management of that vehicle to relative-value credit manager Good Hill Partners at the end of October. Managing director Joel Jasinski and vice president Matt Rossetto have joined Good Hill from Sorin’s investment team and will continue to run the portfolio for Blackstone. At least part of Blackstone’s mandate comes from an alternative mutual fund called Blackstone Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund, which already allocated capital to Good Hill.
Hedge Fund Founder Andrew Redleaf Says Prepare For Low Growth ‘For A Very Long Period Of Time’ (Forbes)
Andrew Redleaf, who founded the hedge fund Whitebox Advisors, says the coming years will be marked by lower economic growth in the U.S. and that investors should prepare for bankruptcies, especially among smaller companies. “The overwhelming and dominant factor is that we’ll have very, very subdued growth for a very long period of time,” Redleaf said on the Contrarian Investor Podcast. “A number of businesses that probably shouldn’t have existed before – we are going to see their bankruptcies and their liquidations accelerate.”
