This Changes Everything for Hedge Fund Managers (Institutional Investor)
A decade ago, Marc Lasry, CEO and co-founder of distressed investor Avenue Capital Group, described in stark terms the impact of record low interest rates on the investment world. He told Institutional Investor that when he started in the business, a target return of 8 to 12 percent was 2 or 3 times the risk-free rate. But with rates at record lows at the time — and until recently — the amount of risk that investors needed to take to earn that same return had skyrocketed. “If T-Bills are at 25 bps, you were literally taking 30 times the risk-free rate,” he said.
Is Michael Platt the Highest Earner in Finance? (The Washington Post)
For most investment managers, 2022 was a year to forget: It was “one of the most challenging market environments in over 50 years,” said Gary Shedlin, chief financial officer of BlackRock Inc. With equity and bond markets down, there were few places to hide; even hedge funds struggled, despite their ability to prosper from declining markets, falling an average 4.25%, according to industry data provider HFR. Yet one fund stood out. BlueCrest Capital, the firm co-founded by billionaire bond trader Michael Platt, reportedly posted a return of 153% in the year. The performance marks the latest in a table-topping run. If you’d invested $1,000 with Platt at the beginning of 2016, your investment would be worth almost $28,000 today, reflecting an annualized return of 60%.
These ‘Big Short’ Vets Were Up 169% Last Year (Institutional Investor)
As a portfolio manager working at FrontPoint, Porter Collins was one of the subjects of “The Big Short” – the book, and later movie, on the 2008 market crash. He likes to say he’s been looking for the next big short ever since. Last year, his Seawolf Master Fund found plenty of them — and ended the year up 168.6 percent.
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Hedge Funds that Punted Early on China Recovery Reaped the Rewards (Reuters)
Hedge funds that bet on a swift shift in the country’s zero-COVID and regulatory policies in late 2022 while the stock market was tumbling and political uncertainty was intense were rewarded handsomely, according to sources and fund documents. The MSCI China index (.dMICN00000PUS) plunged by 17% in October as President Xi Jinping consolidated power in a twice-in-a-decade Communist Party Congress and many investors worried Beijing would sacrifice economic growth for ideology.
Einhorn Heralds Value’s Return With Snark, Modesty (The Wall Street Journal)
After years spent mostly in the doghouse, hedge fund manager David Einhorn is sharing some clues about how his Greenlight Capital managed to outperform the S&P 500 last year by 51 percentage points after fees. In a letter to clients, the value maven reveals it was mainly his skepticism of bubbly stocks—and not his embrace of value—that shined. The fund got a return of 30% from its short bets, compared with 2.4% from its long bets.
Asia Hedge Funds Avert Disaster on Scale of GFC with China Reopening (AFR.com)
Asia hedge funds narrowly averted their first year of double-digit losses since the 2008 financial crisis after China’s sudden easing of COVID-19 restrictions spurred a late market rally. Funds including those run by Aspex Management, Triata Capital, Yunqi Capital and Brilliance Asset Management pared a significant portion, if not all, of their 2022 losses during the final two months of last year. A Eurekahedge gauge of regional hedge fund returns finished the year down 8.4 per cent, after losses exceeding 13 per cent through the end of October put it on course for the second-ever annual double-digit decline.
This Insider Just Spiked Investors’ Interest in Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) Stock (TipRanks)
Story Highlights: A corporate insider bought 985,100 shares of ZYME yesterday. The insider activity spiked investors’ interest, and the stock rallied 12% at the time of writing. One of Zymeworks’ (NASDAQ:ZYME) insiders, Ecor1 Capital, LLC, bought ZYME stock worth $9.7 million. Ecor1 Capital is a more-than-10%-owner of ZYME. Its buy attracted investors’ attention, and the stock rallied a solid 18% in Wednesday’s extended trade and a further 12% at the time of writing.
Genpact, Buckle And These 2 Stocks Insiders Are Selling (Benzinga)
The Trade: Adobe Inc. (ADBE) Director John Warnock sold a total of 3,000 shares at an average price of $341.91. The insider received around $1.03 million from selling those shares. Buckle: The Trade: The Buckle, Inc. (BKE) EVP Stores Kari Smith sold a total of 25,000 shares at an average price of $48.10. The insider received around $1.2 million from selling those shares.
Ex-Nippon Paint Senior VP and Two Others Charged with Insider Trading (The Business Times)
FOR communicating non-public and material information about Nippon Paint’s proposed acquisition of DuluxGroup, Shae Toh Hock, 62, was charged on Thursday (Jan 19) with one count of an offence under Section 219(3)(a) of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA). His sister Shae Hung Yee, 59, and her husband Siew Boon Liong, 62, were also charged with one count of an offence under Section 219(2)(a) of the SFA read with Section 109 of the Penal Code.
Tuesday 1/17 Insider Buying Report: EOG, AKAM (Nasdaq.com)
At EOG Resources, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Thursday, Director Michael T. Kerr purchased 20,000 shares of EOG, at a cost of $130.49 each, for a total investment of $2.61M. EOG Resources is trading down about 0.2% on the day Tuesday. And at Akamai Technologies, there was insider buying on Friday, by Chief Executive Officer F. Thomson Leighton who bought 850 shares for a cost of $88.44 each, for a trade totaling $75,175. Before this latest buy, Leighton bought AKAM on 9 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $500,975 at an average of $85.68 per share. Akamai Technologies is trading up about 0.2% on the day Tuesday. So far Leighton is in the green, up about 0.9% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $89.20.
DEWA brings out policy on insider trading; more DFM-listed expected to follow (Gulf News)
Dubai: The Dubai utility company DEWA has come out with a comprehensive set of rules against insider trading, and by which individuals would benefit from having prior information about the company’s operations, plans or financial results. The passing of these rules by DEWA will help the DFM-listed stock resonate with investors, particularly international funds. On Thursday (January 19), DEWA’s stock is trading unchanged at Dh2.41.
