Investor Presses Aviva to Cut Costs and Return £5bn to Shareholders (The Guardian)
Europe’s largest activist fund has built a 5% stake in the London listed insurance company Aviva as its chief executive, Amanda Blanc, became the second female FTSE 100 boss to have her strategy questioned by an activist investor. Cevian Capital, a Swedish investment firm with $16bn under management, said Aviva, Britain’s biggest general insurer, should return £5bn of excess capital next year after it completes the sale of a collection of non-core divisions.
Duke Energy Calls Hedge Fund Proposal to Split Its Business ‘Illogical’ (GreenvilleOnline.com)
Duke Energy says a proposal to break up its business into three regional operations would increase costs and put pressure on utility rates. The Charlotte, N.C.-based utility company said it will review Elliott Investment Management‘s proposal but it has rejected other offers the Florida-based hedge fund has made since last summer, according to a Duke Energy press release. The proposal was publicized in a letter in May.
Breaking: Marc Lasry-backed BlockTower Capital Acquires Crypto Hedge Fund Gamma Point (Coingape.com)
Crypto hedge fund BlockTower Capital backed by billionaire hedge-fund manager Marc Lasry recently announced the acquisition of its market rival Gamma Point Capital. Although the terms of the deal aren’t disclosed, the acquisition will make Gamma’s fund part of BlockTower’s family of funds. Besides, its co-founders will also join BlockTower’s team of hedge fund managers in Miami, said Matt Goetz, BlockTower’s chief executive officer.
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Hedge Funds Book Largest Gains Since 1996 on Back of US Reopening Boom (Financial News)
Hedge funds are on an eight-month winning streak. Hedge funds have delivered their strongest year-to-date performance since 1996 in the first five months of the year amid investor optimism about the US economy reopening. Hedge funds boosted performance in May for the eighth consecutive month, according to data from the sector’s research firm HFR. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gained.
These Three Hedge Funds Are Killing It This Year (Institutional Investor)
A trio of funds have achieved returns through May that are three or four times higher than the market average. At least three of the hottest hedge fund firms this year continued to outperform in May.The funds are now beating the S&P 500 index by three or four times. For example, Senvest Management’s Senvest Master Fund rose more than 4 percent in May, extending its gain for the year to 80.78…
Relativity Space Raises $650 mln for Bigger 3D-Printed Rocket (Reuters)
Venture-backed startup Relativity Space, which aims to build the world’s first fleet of 3D-printed rockets, said on Tuesday it has raised $650 million from a raft of new investors including BlackRock, hedge fund Soroban Capital, and the actor Jared Leto. Though it has yet to launch a rocket, the latest capital raise gives Relativity a market valuation of $4.2 billion, making it the second-most valuable privately-held space firm behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
