A P&G-Style Makeover Is a Big Ask for Unilever (The Wall Street Journal)
Unilever has similar problems to those Procter & Gamble faced four years ago, and now has the same activist investor on its board. But times otherwise have moved on. On Tuesday, Unilever said Trian Partners founder Nelson Peltz will take a seat on the company’s board of directors from July. After months of speculation that the activist had bought shares in Unilever, the company confirmed that his hedge fund owns a 1.5% stake, currently valued at around $1.6 billion. Mr. Peltz will join Unilever’s compensation committee and may want changes to pay incentives. At P&G, he criticized targets that rewarded top executives for sales growth that was below the industry average.
US Alleges $39 Million Fraud by Metro Detroit Hedge Fund (Big News Network)
DETROIT, Michigan: A Detroit-area hedge fund has been accused of a $39 million fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In court filings last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Andrew M. Middlebrooks, the owner of EIA All Weather Alpha Fund I Partners LLC, of “allegedly engaging in a multi-year scheme that included the misappropriation and misuse of investors’ funds,” according to the federal agency.
U.S. Investment Firm Redbird Buys AC Milan from Elliott – Report (Reuters)
(Reuters) – The U.S. investment firm RedBird has bought Serie A champions AC Milan from the U.S. fund Elliott after a deal was reached in the last few days, ANSA here reported on Tuesday. Asset manager Investcorp had also been in the running to buy seven-times European champions Milan earlier this month but they could not agree on certain terms, paving the way for Redbird to pursue a deal.
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Macquarie Asset Management Raises $4.2bn for Asia-Pacific Fund (Opalesque)
The world’s largest infrastructure asset manager Macquarie Group Ltd.’s asset-management arm closed a US$4.2 billion Asia-Pacific regional infrastructure fund that exceeded the US$3.0 billion target. “The successful fundraise brings total capital managed under the manager’s Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund series, dedicated to investing in Asia-Pacific infrastructure, to over $US15 billion,” said the Australian global financial services group in a press release. The fund received the commitments from a diverse range of returning and new institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds, Macquarie said.
Hedge Fund Star’s Bullish Turn Points to End of China Stock Rout (Bloomberg)
A top-performing Chinese macro hedge fund that held zero stock exposure earlier this year is turning more positive, saying a benchmark index has probably seen its low for the year though volatility will persist. Shanghai Banxia Investment Management Center rebuilt long positions to as much as 65% in early May after steep declines last month pushed stock valuations to historical lows, founder Li Bei said. The fund has since trimmed some holdings and pocketed gains.
Hedge Fund Redemptions Accelerate in March (Hedge Week)
Hedge fund redemptions accelerated in March totalling -$35.37 billion (-0.70% of industry assets), according to the Barclay Fund Flow Indicator published by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. An $18.24 billion trading gain for the month combined with new entrants to push total hedge fund industry assets to $5.14 trillion as March ended. A majority of hedge fund subsectors tracked posted net redemptions in March. Subsectors bucking the redemption trend to post monthly inflows were led by Multi-Strategy funds, adding $3.89 billion. Others subsectors attracting new assets during the month included Sector Specific funds with $2.31 billion in inflows; Merger Arbitrage funds adding $2.08 billion; and Option Strategies funds bringing in $331.8 million.
Multi-Strats and CTAs Keep Attracting Assets (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Multi-strategy and managed futures hedge funds continue to attract net inflows even as investors pulled out an estimated $5.2 billion from the broader hedge fund industry in April, according to eVestment. These two strategy groups have been the drivers of net inflows into the hedge fund industry both in 2021 and so far in 2022. Their net inflows have been broadly offset by net redemptions from long/short equity and fixed-income strategies.
Ethereum Sell-Off Fears Rise as Crypto Hedge Fund Moves $60M ETH to an Exchange (Investing)
Ethereum’s native token Ether (ETH) rose by more than 5% to reach its intraday high above $1,930 on May 30. Nonetheless, the ETH/USD pair risks facing another sell-off round due to concerns about a massive ETH inflow into an exchange. On May 30, the Ether address allegedly associated with Three Arrow Capital – a Singapore-based crypto hedge fund, sent 32,000 ETH worth $60 million to the FTX crypto exchange within a span of an hour, on-chain data shows.
Alaska Permanent Fund Plans to Bring Fixed Income 100% In-House (SWFInstitute.org)
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) is undertaking a “fixed income transition initiative”. Larger sovereign funds often move a large portion or all of their fixed income management in-house as they can scale and hire staff. Examples of asset owners who maintain fixed income internally include Norway Government Pension Fund Global (managed by Norges Bank Investment Management) and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
Tuesday 5/31 Insider Buying Report: CASA, CBL (Nasdaq.com)
On Thursday, Casa Systems’ Director, William C. Styslinger III, made a $533,301 buy of CASA, purchasing 128,923 shares at a cost of $4.14 a piece. So far Styslinger III is in the green, up about 10.5% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $4.57. Casa Systems is trading up about 3% on the day Tuesday. Before this latest buy, Styslinger III made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $47,082 shares at a cost of $3.99 each. And at CBL & Associates Properties, there was insider buying on Thursday, by Director Jonathan M. Heller who purchased 10,000 shares at a cost of $27.79 each, for a trade totaling $277,900. Before this latest buy, Heller made one other purchase in the past year, buying $3.23M shares for a cost of $32.25 each. CBL & Associates Properties is trading down about 1% on the day Tuesday. So far Heller is in the green, up about 2.8% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $28.56.
Executives Sell Around $96M Of 5 Stocks (Benzinga)
Eli Lilly and Company: The Trade: Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) 10% owner Lilly Endowment Inc sold a total of 178,390 shares at an average price of $311.27. The insider received around $55.53 million from selling those shares. Charles Schwab: The Trade: The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) Chairman Charles Schwab sold a total of 217,265 shares at an average price of $68.96. The insider received around $10.16 million from selling those shares.
Former AstraZeneca Executive Accused of Insider Trading Over Daiichi Cancer Drug Deal (Stat News)
A former AstraZeneca communications executive was accused of insider trading in connection with a partnership with Daiichi Sankyo to develop and market a cancer drug, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Hugues Pierre Joublin, 54, was employed as the global head of corporate affairs for oncology when he learned in early March 2019 that AstraZeneca was holding confidential talks with Daiichi Sankyo about a global development and commercialization agreement. Within a week, he purchased 500 American Depository Shares of Daiichi.
