Marshall Wace Joins Hedge Funds in Piling More than $1.3 Billion into Short Bets Against Woodford-Linked Investments (Business Insider)
The shock fall from grace last week of UK’s most famous investment manager is still rippling through markets, with short sellers including Marshall Wace and AQR Capital Management making big bets against companies linked to the scandal. Neil Woodford stunned investors after saying heavy withdrawals in his Equity Income Fund meant that he would halt redemptions, freezing out clients from getting back their money.
Bodenholm Clinches its Best Month Too (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – As the intensified trade tensions sent markets tumbling last month, at least two Nordic hedge funds achieved their best monthly performance on record. One was systematic market-neutral fund QQM Equity Hedge; the other was fundamental equity long/short fund Bodenholm. The fund founded by Per Johansson gained 5.3 percent in May, its best month since launching in September 2015.
Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock.com
Now People are Leaving ExodusPoint, the Expansionary Hedge Fund (eFinancialCareers.com)
The tide may be turning. After sucking in portfolio managers, analysts and quants in London and New York, it seems that Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint may be spitting them out again. Insiders say that ExodusPoint recently parted company with Benjamin Griguer. Neither Griguer nor ExodusPoint responded to requests to comment, but the Financial Conduct Authority register shows Grigeur leaving the fund in London on 6 June after joining from Citadel around a year earlier.
Hedge Fund Founder Buys New York City’s Most Expensive Townhouse (AFR.com)
New York | John Griffin, founder of hedge fund Blue Ridge Capital, spent the most ever for a residential townhouse in New York City last week when he paid $US77.1 million ($110.1 million) to Philip Falcone and his wife Lisa, according to people familiar with the transaction. The townhouse, on East 67th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, previously belonged to Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione.
The Collapse of the $13 Billion Woodford Investment Fund is a Taste of What a Private Equity Liquidity Crisis will Look Like (Business Insider)
The collapse of Neil Woodford‘s £10 billion ($13 billion) investment fund has given us a glimpse of what the market might look like if — or rather, when— a downturn comes to the opaque “secondary” market of unlisted private equity stocks. The Woodford collapse is important because it happened in benign conditions. The S&P 500 is up 1% year to date. Woodford wasn’t tested by a stormy market — it sank in calm seas.
Former Goldman Partner Thall Plans $200 Million Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Ryan Thall, a former hedge fund manager at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is reportedly planning a new fund that would oversee at least $200 million. Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, joins Bloomberg’s Sonali Basak on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Hedge Fund Firm Elliot to Acquire Barnes & Noble in USD683m Deal (HedgeWeek.com)
Barnes & Noble is to be acquired by funds advised by Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited (Elliott) for USD6.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately USD683 million, including the assumption of debt. Elliott’s acquisition of Barnes & Noble, the largest retail bookseller in the United States, follows its June 2018 acquisition of Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the United Kingdom. James Daunt, CEO of Waterstones, will assume also the role of CEO of Barnes & Noble following the completion of the transaction and will be based in New York.
