Social-Media Influencers are the New SMBs, But They’re Underserved. A Point72 Ventures Exec Says Fintechs can Fill that Gap. (Business Insider)
The numbers are impressive. $5,000 for one Instagram post. $8,900 for a single YouTube video. $13,644 in one month for affiliate marketing deals on TikTok. $20,703 from YouTube ads. $141,000 in one month for a YouTube channel. While celebrities have always been able to nab valuable sponsorship deals, everyday people are now also make significant money via social media.
GlaxoSmithKline Says Board Supports Under-Pressure CEO (The Wall Street Journal)
GlaxoSmithKline PLC said its board sees Chief Executive Emma Walmsley as the right person to lead the company’s pharmaceutical business after a planned split with its consumer-health unit, a vote of confidence a day after activist investor Elliott Management Corp. called for a management review. Elliott, in its first public comment after amassing a stake in Glaxo, called on Thursday for board changes ahead of the U.K. pharmaceutical giant’s planned separation of its businesses. It asked Glaxo to launch a process to decide whether Ms. Walmsley should continue to lead the company. Elliott also criticized the company’s recent performance under her leadership.
Nordic Capital Raises $1.4bn for First Mid-Market Fund (Opalesque)
The private equity investor Nordic Capital has created a new fund for mid-sized companies worth €1.2 billion ($1.4bn), including GP commitment of 6.8%, in just three months. The Evolution Fund was substantially oversubscribed at its hard cap and significantly exceeded its target, said a press release from the private equity fund that focuses on investments primarily in Northern Europe. “With the Evolution Fund, Nordic Capital will build on its long and successful investment experience in the mid-market, applying its value creation model to a broader size range of mid-market companies in its selected sectors and geographies, leveraging its expertise and extensive expert networks,” said the release.
Luis Louro / shutterstock.com
Investor Kyle Bass Blasts U.S. Companies for Cozying up to China in the Name of Profits (CNBC)
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, a frequent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, on Thursday blasted American companies that speak up against social injustices in the U.S., but fail to take forceful positions around human rights abuses in China. “If U.S. national security was left up to corporate America, we’ll all be speaking Chinese very quickly,” the founder of Texas-based Hayman Capital Management said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Billion-Dollar Start-Ups Show New Hedge Funds Are Thriving (FA-Mag.com)
Hedge fund launches this year are on pace to match last year’s numbers, even as returns have been more subdued than 2020’s big gains. And the 2022 startups could be even bigger, possibly led by former Viking Global Investors manager Divya Nettimi, given that Viking has spawned some of the most notable debuts of the past few years, according to people familiar with her plans. Most of the startups will focus on equities, specializing in areas such as biotech or technology and hoping to capitalize on 2020’s outperformance by such specialized hedge funds, which beat the broader market. So far this year, these so-called sector funds have woefully lagged behind the S&P 500, returning about a fifth of the benchmark’s gains, according to research firm PivotalPath.
Nickel Digital Rotates Flagship Arbitrage-Strategy Fund Largely Out of Crypto Into Cash: Report (Coin Desk)
The Digital Asset Arbitrage Fund, which launched in 2019, focuses on crypto assets. It has seen positive monthly returns since its inception, and has gained about 13% this year, Bloomberg said. The May sell-off in crypto saw a number of leveraged positions, especially those of retail investors, with losses. Co-Founder Anatoly Crachilov said he expects the doldrums will end soon because institutional investors are increasingly interested in the assets.
Convert-Arb Specialist Credere Capital Unveils Higher-Volatility Relative Value Hedge Fund (Hedge Week)
Credere Capital, a convertible arbitrage-focused hedge fund led by well-known industry veteran Oliver Dobbs (pictured), is launching a higher-volatility, higher-return version of its Trium Credere strategy later this year to tap into growing investor demand for such strategies. The Cayman-registered Trium Credere Circle Fund – set to roll out in Q3 – will trade the same arbitrage and relative value strategy as the existing Trium Credere flagship, investing across a range of hybrid securities and derivatives markets, but will target approximately double the exposure.
Ascribe Capital Merges with Birch Grove to Form a New Entity to Manage Hedge Funds and Private Credit Vehicles (Opalesque)
U.S. private equity firm American Securities’ credit business Ascribe Capital has merged with Birch Grove Capital (BGC), an alternative credit manager. The combined firm – AS Birch Grove – will manage about $5 billion in assets in an opportunistic hedge fund, private credit vehicles, and par credit and collateralized loan obligation vehicles. AS Birch Grove, along with its funds, will be well-positioned to become a more diversified credit asset management business, said a joint press release. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Friday 7/2 Insider Buying Report: CVM, VYNT (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, CEL-SCI’s Director, Peter R. Young, made a $37,971 purchase of CVM, buying 3,000 shares at a cost of $12.66 a piece. Investors have the opportunity to buy CVM at a price even lower than Young did, with shares trading as low as $7.77 at last check today which is 38.6% below Young’s purchase price. CEL-SCI Corporation is trading down about 10.1% on the day Friday. Before this latest buy, Young bought CVM at 3 other times during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $44,827 at an average of $11.49 per share. And at Vyant Bio, there was insider buying on Wednesday, by Director Marcus Boehm who bought 10,000 shares for a cost of $3.72 each, for a trade totaling $37,224. This buy marks the first one filed by Boehm in the past year. Vyant Bio is trading down about 1.1% on the day Friday.
Trader Charged With $3.6 Million Front-Running Scheme (Bloomberg)
A trader at a large Canadian asset management firm was charged with insider trading in federal court in New York on Friday. The firm was not identified by Manhattan federal prosecutors. Sean Wygovsky, 40, allegedly reaped $3.6 million by stealing confidential information to front-run his firm’s trades. Prosecutors said Wygovsky used close relatives and accounts in their names to conceal his activity. Those relatives kicked back to him at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal trading profits, according to the government.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ocado Group (Other OTC: OCDGF) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of Ocado Group (OCDGF), Timothy Steiner, sold shares of OCDGF for $38.86M. The company has a one-year high of $39.25 and a one-year low of $24.65. Currently, Ocado Group has an average volume of 252. The Company has a Price to Book ratio of 9.88. Based on 3 analyst ratings, the analyst consensus is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $33.97, reflecting a -18.6% downside. The insider sentiment on Ocado Group has been positive according to 19 insider trades in the past three months. This sentiment is slightly higher than the average sentiment of company insiders in this sector.
Applied Materials Inc (AMAT) President and CEO Gary E Dickerson Sold $24.5 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
President and CEO of Applied Materials Inc, Gary E Dickerson, sold 175,000 shares of AMAT on 06/28/2021 at an average price of $140 a share. The total sale was $24.5 million.
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