Some Hedge Funds are Financing Trades for Other Hedge Funds (Risk.net)
Seldom have so few lent money to so many. The number of large banks offering prime brokerage to hedge funds has shrunk, partly owing to the bumper losses suffered by a string of banks after the collapse of family office Archegos in March. Meanwhile, the crowd of hedge funds clamouring for prime services has grown. The total number of firms is up by a third in the past seven years, and hedge fund portfolio holdings reached $4 trillion this year.
A Secretive Hedge Fund is Gutting Newsrooms (The Atlantic)
Inside Alden Global Capital: The tribune tower rises above the streets of downtown Chicago in a majestic snarl of Gothic spires and flying buttresses that were designed to exude power and prestige. When plans for the building were announced in 1922, Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime owner of the Chicago Tribune, said he wanted to erect “the world’s most beautiful office building” for his beloved newspaper. The best architects of the era were invited to submit designs; lofty quotes about the Fourth Estate were selected to adorn the lobby. Prior to the building’s completion, McCormick directed his foreign correspondents to collect “fragments” of various historical sites – a brick from the Great Wall of China, an emblem from St. Peter’s Basilica – and send them back to be embedded in the tower’s facade.
Quant Hedge Fund Aspect Shrugs Off China Risk With New Strategy (Bloomberg)
Quant hedge fund firm Aspect Capital is raising money for a strategy that offers foreign clients access to Chinese markets at a time many of its peers are backing away from the country. The $9.3 billion London-based money manager started trading for an algorithm-driven fund this week, betting on China’s markets for obscure and unique tradable assets such as eggs, liquid glass and hot-rolled coil. The fund launched with $100 million in seed capital and is in talks with clients to raise more money, Chief Executive Officer Anthony Todd said in an interview. It can manage as much as $1.5 billion.
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New Path Into Swedish VC (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Swedish fund management firm AIFM Capital has partnered up with Nordic Tech Fund Group to launch an NGM-listed alternative investment fund that offers exposure to unlisted Swedish technology companies. The actively-managed venture capital fund named Nordic Tech Fund invests in unlisted tech companies at an early stage, an opportunity usually reserved for wealthy individuals and venture capital firms.
‘Big Short’ Investor Michael Burry Teases a Bet Against Crypto – and Warns Market Speculation has Reached Historic Levels (Business Insider)
Michael Burry, who made his name and fortune by betting against the housing bubble, has set his sights on a new target: cryptocurrencies. “Ok, I haven’t done this before, how do you short a cryptocurrency?” he said in a now-deleted tweet this week. “Do you have to secure a borrow? Is there a short rebate? Can the position be squeezed and called in?”
Hedge Funds Count the Cost of September Slide (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds’ overall momentum in 2021 has been halted, with managers across a range of strategy classes left counting the cost of September’s bumpy equity and credit market reversal, new industry data published this week shows. On average, hedge fund managers have made gains of more than 8 per cent since the start of this year – but last month’s market turbulence saw most strategy sub-sectors slide into the red, according to separate performance data released by eVestment and BarclayHedge.
