Paul Tudor Jones Says Companies Can No Longer Exist Just to Maximize Profits (CNBC)
Longtime hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones on Wednesday critiqued the long-held belief that companies should exist for the sole purpose of generating profits. Jones, whose remarks came during a JUST Capital event with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, said it’s that philosophy that allows corporate boards to neglect issues of equity in the workplace and ultimately undermine the stability of broader U.S. society.
Exclusive: Pershing Square’s Ackman Eyes $1 Billion-Plus ‘Blank-Check’ Company – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Billionaire investor William Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management has filed confidentially with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) of a blank-check investment vehicle that could raise more than $1 billion and be the biggest of its kind, according to people familiar with the matter. Ackman, whose New York-based hedge fund has more than $10 billion in assets under management, is working with investment banks Jefferies, UBS Group AG and Citigroup Inc on the IPO, referred to on Wall Street as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the sources said.
Third Point Hedge Fund Seeks to Raise More Than $500 Million (Bloomberg)
Billionaire Dan Loeb’s Third Point is seeking to raise more than $500 million for a new hedge fund to wager on structured credit markets which imploded during the coronavirus market turmoil. The Third Point Structured Credit Opportunities Fund started fund raising on June 1 and has collected about $380 million, according to an investor update seen by Bloomberg. A spokesman for the New York-based investment firm declined to comment.
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Billionaire Investing Legend and Milwaukee Bucks Owner Marc Lasry Said there Could be $1 Trillion in Opportunities Over the Next Year in Distressed Companies (Business Insider)
Distressed-debt investors have been waiting for a recession after more than a decade of a relentless bull market. Even though the equity markets have bounced back since the initial crash from the coronavirus pandemic — shocking and confounding many hedge-fund managers — there is still money to be made for distressed-debt investors. By Marc Lasry‘s count, between $500 billion and $1 trillion in opportunities. “The biggest opportunity today is investing in companies that are in bankruptcy or going through a restructuring,” said Lasry, the billionaire founder of $9.7 billion Avenue Capital, on a SALT Talks webinar with Skybridge Capital managing director Anthony Scaramucci Thursday morning.
Panthers Owner David Tepper, Billionaire with N.J. Roots, Fires Several Employees Amid Coronavirus, Report Says (NJ.com)
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is reducing his payroll amid the coronavirus pandemic. If nothing else, the optics of this aren’t good. The Athletic reports the Carolina Panthers “let about 15 employees on their business side go late last month, (including) several in both sales and ticketing. Team says cuts were performance-related and/or part of reorganization, although hard to think stay-at-home orders didn’t play some role.”
$60 Billion Two Sigma Just Hired Goldman Sachs’ First-Ever Chief Data Officer to Lead Its Massive Tech Team (Business Insider)
The person in-charge of one of the hedge industry’s top engineering teams is stepping down. Alfred Spector, the well-known computer scientist who had been Two Sigma‘s chief technology for five years, is retiring, according to the $60 billion fund. Taking his place is Jeffrey Wecker, a partner at Goldman Sachs who was the bank’s first-ever chief data officer. His resume also includes stints at Ray Dalio‘s Bridgewater and Lehman Brothers.
Hedge Funds Gain 2.71 per cent in May (Hedge Week)
Stock markets carried April’s momentum into May and hedge funds were among the beneficiaries posting a 2.71 per cent monthly return, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. By comparison, the S&P 500 Total Return Index was up 4.76 per cent in May. Year-to-date, the hedge fund industry is down 4.67 per cent through May. The S&P 500 Total Return Index is down 4.97 per cent over the same period.All sectors but two tracked by the Barclay Hedge Fund Indices were in positive territory in May. The exceptions were the Merger Arbitrage Index, down 0.42 per cent, and the Equity Market Neutral Index, losing 0.02 per cent in May.
