Funds Jockey for Stake in National Broadband Firm in Ireland (The Times)
A 74 per cent stake in National Broadband Ireland, which is bringing fibre connections to 554,000 premises in rural parts of the country, is expected to change hands this summer. Pension and investment funds are poised to submit final bids to PJT, the company advisers. Oak Hill Advisors, a US hedge fund that is a 49 per cent shareholder, and Twin Point Capital, which holds 25 per cent, are set to exit.
Funds Target Activist Great Nelson Peltz (AFR.com)
The London-listed fund of Nelson Peltz’s Trian Funds Management has become an unlikely target of a shareholder campaign led by two asset managers that the famed activist currently owns large stakes in. Trian-owned Invesco and Janus Henderson, alongside ASX-listed Global Value Fund and Pelham Capital, said early on Monday they had called for an extraordinary general meeting to oust three of the four directors of Trian Investors 1 (TI1).
American Hedge Fund Geniuses of the Cryptosphere have Failed (LiveMint)
Little was learnt from Long-Term Capital Management’s collapse. Cryptocurrencies were supposed to teach traditional financiers a thing or two about how to avoid collapses and crises. Yet, it feels like we’re simply repeating history. Specifically, the messy hedge-fund humiliation captured in Roger Lowenstein’s 2000-published book, When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management. After Terra and Luna’s $60 billion stablecoin collapse and the freeze of withdrawals at crypto-lending platform Celsius, trading firm Three Arrows Capital now appears to be in trouble.
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Alts Managers Plunge into ESG Transformation (Pensions&Investments)
As investment factors become mainstream, industry gets on board. ESG is going mainstream, and alternative investment managers are having to get serious with their efforts to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors, or get left behind. In an October report, Preqin estimated that $3.1 trillion in private markets assets under management were run by firms committed to ESG factors, representing about 36% of the total $8.52 trillion in private capital AUM globally.
Falcon Investment Management Announces New Capital Allocation to First Loss Programme (Hedge Week)
Falcon Investment Management, a hedge fund platform and first loss capital provider, has announced a new capital allocation expanding its first loss programme offering across new markets and strategies. The platform offers independent portfolio managers access to capital, alongside support with managed account set up and onboarding, ongoing risk monitoring and access to data and tech to support day to day business flow. The programme offers higher than average performance fee payouts and regulatory compliance oversight to support the independent manager.
Opalesque Roundup: Hedge Funds Now Down -1.4% YTD: Hedge Fund News, Week 22 (Opalesque)
In the week ending June 17th 2022, hedge funds fell for a second consecutive month in May with a return of -0.4%, dragging year-to-date returns further into the red at -1.4%. A steeper than expected rise in US consumer prices in May raised concerns about aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to quell price pressures that could send the economy into recession. The Eurekahedge CTA /Managed Futures Hedge Fund Index was down -0.20% in May (+8% YTD), snapping its five-month winning streak. Commodity prices except for oil retreated during May 2022 owing to the concern over an impending global recession driven by the hawkish Federal Reserve and geopolitical uncertainty.
Hedge Fund Cost Cutting Holds Up Rail Supply-Chain (The Journal)
Hedge funds are contributing to supply-chain problems – not at the dock but on the rails. Rail freight shipping has slowed down, Hanska farmer and locomotive engineer Adam Suess told local state legislators holding a town hall last week. Suess said a few years ago, hedge funds bought a controlling interest in railroads and forced operating practices to cut costs. As a result, he has noticed a slowdown in shipping agricultural products by freight train.
Friday 6/17 Insider Buying Report: MGPI, FSP (Nasdaq.com)
At MGP Ingredients, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Donn S. Lux bought 5,000 shares of MGPI, at a cost of $93.37 each, for a total investment of $466,844. Investors have the opportunity to buy MGPI even cheaper than Lux did, with shares trading as low as $91.16 at last check today which is 2.4% under Lux’s purchase price. MGP Ingredients is trading up about 1.5% on the day Friday. Before this latest buy, Lux bought MGPI on 2 other occasions during the past year, for a total cost of $1.23M at an average of $81.83 per share. And at Franklin Street Properties, there was insider buying on Thursday, by Director Brian N. Hansen who bought 100,000 shares at a cost of $3.95 each, for a total investment of $395,330.
Insider Trading: June 20, 2022 (BIV.com)
Insider Gordon Crawford, director. Company: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:LGF). Shares owned: 1,148,474. Trade date: June 3, 6. Trade total: US$561,600. Trade: Acquisition of 58,687 shares at prices from US$9.17 to US$9.70 per share. Insider James Andrew Charles Robinson, officer. Company: Standard Lithium Ltd. (TSX-V:SLI). Shares owned: 1,566,499. Trade date: June 6, 8. Trade total: $297,446. Trade: Sale of 40,600 shares at a price of $7.30 to $7.40 per share.
Insider Weekends: Cluster Of Insiders Purchase Carvana (Seeking Alpha)
Insiders purchasing more than 4 times as much stock as they did the prior week. Carvana was down nearly 95% peak-to-trough earlier last week from a peak of $376.83 on August 10, 2021 to a trough of $19.83 on June 13, 2022. The cluster of Carvana purchases last week was a little more encouraging and the company has taken some steps that might help it survive.
Hedge Fund Kite Lake Joins LGIM Criticism of Tullow-Capricorn Merger Plans (Nasdaq.com)
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) – Kite Lake, a hedge fund investor in Capricorn Energy CNE.L shares, criticised the gas and oil producer’s planned merger with Tullow Oil TLW.L on Monday, saying the $827 million deal was value destructive to shareholders. Kite Lake joins Legal & General Investment Management in criticising the deal which would create a 100,000-barrel of oil equivalent per day, Africa-focused producer in a deal paid for with newly issued Tullow shares. .
