Neiman Marcus, in Debt Talks, Makes It Easier to Bet It Will Fail (The Wall Street Journal)
Aurelius Capital Management, a distressed-debt hedge fund that made successful bets against Puerto Rico and Argentina, has a new target: the struggling luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. The hedge fund, which is run by bankruptcy lawyer Mark Brodsky, pushed Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. to add language to its bond documents that would make it easier to profit on bets against the retailer, especially if the company defaults or files for bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the matter.
Hong Kong Billionaire Believed In Magic, With Predictable Results (DealBreaker)
When sailing the seven seas aboard his yacht, Sea Force One, GLG Partners co-founder Raffaele Costa prefers to be called by his self-applied nom de mer, “Captain Magic.” But his claims to supernatural abilities did not stop when his 177-foot pleasure boat pulls in to dock. No: Turns out he believes his Tyndaris Investments’ artificially-intelligent algorithmic-trading system works wonders, as well. Or, at least that’s what he allegedly told Samarthur Li Kin-kan.
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Hedge Fund Launches and Closures Hit Multi-Year Lows (HedgeNordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – New hedge fund launches slipped to an 18-year low last year, but closures hit a multi-year low too. According to data provider Hedge Fund Research (HFR), an estimated 561 hedge funds launched globally last year, whereas 659 funds closed their doors during the year. Last year’s number of hedge fund debuts was the lowest figure since 2000 when less than 400 funds opened up. Hedge fund closures, meanwhile, peaked in 2008 when close to 1,500 funds shut their doors. The number of closures for 2018 was the lowest annual figure since 2007 when less than 600 funds closed.
Hedge Fund Spurns Saudi Arabia’s $300 Million After Khashoggi Murder (Bloomberg)
A hedge fund has told investors it returned money to Saudi Arabia following the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The move is a rare rebuke to one of the world’s most influential investors. Pharo Management (UK) LLP in December gave back about $300 million that it had previously managed for the kingdom’s central bank Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, known as SAMA, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential.
How The Son Of A Hedgefund Billionaire Plans To Cure FOMO With An App (Forbes)
Diesel Peltz, 25, son of hedge fund billionaire Nelson Peltz, is on a mission to cure FOMO with Twenty, an app that encourages offline interactions in the real world. Launched on Tuesday, Twenty, formerly known as InSite, seeks to relieve users sense of FOMO by alerting them to the location of their friends, who have to varying degrees disclosed their location, in hopes that offline plans to meet up, or “Hangouts” can be set.
Key Employee Exits as John Burbank’s Passport Capital Attempts to Execute Its Complicated Bet on Crypto (TheBlockCrypto)
A well-known cryptocurrency employee of John Burbank’s Passport Capital has left the firm as it looks to execute its complicated strategy in the digital currency market, sources familiar with the situation tell The Block. Burbank’s Passport Capital rocketed to stardom after it made a big bet against the subprime mortgage market prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
From Azim Premji to Carlos Slim: The World’s Most Generous Billionaires Outside Of The U.S. (Forbes)
Last October, Forbes tracked the biggest billionaire philanthropists in the U.S. and ranked their efforts with a new philanthropy score. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, cofounders of the Giving Pledge, led our list with $35.8 billion and $35.1 billion, respectively, in lifetime donations. George Soros was third, with $32 billion.
