Citadel Hires Portfolio Managers for Credit, Stock Teams (Reuters)
BOSTON, June 3 (Reuters) – Hedge fund Citadel, whose flagship portfolio is posting double-digit gains this year, has hired for its investment teams even as many corporations cut staff after the coronavirus outbreak shuttered large parts of the U.S. economy. Chicago-headquartered Citadel, which invests $32 billion, recruited four portfolio managers from other funds for its credit and equity teams, a Citadel spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
GOP Donor-Run Hedge Fund has Seat on Twitter Board But Can’t Say Anything About Tech Firm’s Policies (CNBC)
Powerful GOP donor Paul Singer is founder and co-CEO of a hedge fund with a seat on Twitter’s board. But that doesn’t mean Singer can influence the social media giant’s policies to be more sympathetic to his party or President Donald Trump – even as the commander in chief rails against Twitter. As part of a deal with Twitter earlier this year, the fund, Elliott Management, agreed that it will neither share its opinion on Twitter policy nor try to influence its decisions.
Philip Falcone Claims He Can’t Pay $60,000 Settlement, Former Chef Says (Bloomberg)
Philip Falcone’s onetime chef says the former hedge fund manager never paid him the $60,000 he agreed to in a settlement over alleged racist remarks. The chef, Brian Villanueva, sued Falcone and his wife in federal court in New York last year, claiming they created a hostile work environment in which he was mocked for his Asian heritage with stereotypical accents and jokes about eating dogs. Villanueva is a Filipino.
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Macro Hedge Funds Lead the Pack in May – But Lyxor Urges Caution on Oil Rally (Hedge Week)
Global macro managers have outflanked the rest of the hedge fund pack in recent weeks, with discretionary funds and emerging markets-focused strategies building momentum as markets recovered and oil prices rebounded, new analysis by Lyxor Asset Management shows. Global macro strategies rose 2.4 per cent last month, as discretionary funds and managers trading emerging market strategies seized on the recent trend reversals across risk assets during Q2, Lyxor’s cross-asset research team said. By maintaining or increasing risk in portfolios during March’s historic sell-off, EM and discretionary macro funds were able to outperform their systematic counterparts, said the note, which was compiled by senior strategists Philippe Ferreira and Jean-Baptiste Berthon, and hedge fund analyst Pierre Carreyn.
Billionaire Hintze’s Hedge Fund Rocked by Pandemic Losses (Bloomberg)
The outsiders that Michael Hintze brought in to his secretive hedge fund firm didn’t last long. Nor did their growth plans. The billionaire’s firm, known as CQS, a bastion of money-making whose flagship fund has returned more than three times the average of hedge fund peers since it opened in 2005, is now headed in reverse. The Hintze-managed fund plunged as much as 45% in March and April — its worst-ever loss — missing the rebound that followed the initial shock from the coronavirus pandemic even as peers recovered to post gains in April. More than $3 billion of assets were erased, leaving the firm with $16 billion. And that doesn’t include potential withdrawals from the fund’s clients, who are required to give six months’ notice.
BMS Had its Best Month Since 2005 (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Brummer Multi-Strategy, a multi-strategy fund investing in the single-strategy hedge funds under the umbrella of Brummer & Partners, enjoyed its best month since 2005 after gaining an estimated three percent in May. The Brummer fund of funds is now up 1.2 percent year-to-date through the end of May. Following the closure of Bodenholm earlier this year, Brummer’s multi-strategy fund is currently invested in nine different single-strategy hedge funds. “Seven out of nine investment strategies contributed positively to BMS’s performance in May,” says Brummer Multi-Strategy’s monthly commentary for May.
Investor Dan Niles Dumps Disney After Rebound, Stays Out of Apple on Valuation Concerns (CNBC)
Hedge fund manager Dan Niles told CNBC on Tuesday he sold his position in Disney following its recent rally and Apple’s sky-high valuation kept him on the sidelines of the technology giant.
Hedge Fund Performance Rebounds on the Road to COVID-19 Recovery (Preqin)
After recording substantial losses in March, hedge fund performance bounced back in April 2020. The Preqin All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark returned +5.82% in April, the highest monthly return since May 2009 (+6.56%). Performance was boosted by a substantial recovery in public markets as many countries began to ease lockdown restrictions brought on by the outbreak of COVID-19, signaling a potential economic recovery. The rebound in public markets was seen around the globe. In the US, despite GDP falling 4.8% in Q1 2020 – the largest decline since 2008 – the S&P 500 PR Index recorded its strongest rally in 30 years. Investors were encouraged by Federal Reserve intervention, the US government’s $2tn stimulus package, and the easing of some coronavirus-related restrictions.
Any Interest In A Literal Can’t Miss Hedge Fund? (Deal Breaker)
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been great for hedge funds. But for one new Hong Kong hedge fund, it’s been great: Infini Capital Management soared 33% in March and another 25% in April, and it’s feeling cocky. How cocky? How about guaranteeing you’ll never lose a nickel if you invest with it cocky? Infini Capital Management Ltd. is gauging investor interest for full loss insurance on a new class of shares in a fund it launched last year…. “This offering is to hopefully get some investors over the edge who might still have some concerns about being an early investor in Infini,” Chief Operating Officer Michael Friedlander said in an interview. Not that Infini thinks it will ever have to make good on that promise.
Sarissa Capital Launching New Fund (Institutional Investor)
Sarissa Capital Management is raising money for a new fund. The Tiger Grandcub is launching Sarissa Capital Domestic Fund II LP and its offshore counterpart, according to regulatory filings. They are long-only funds that track the long portfolio of the existing hedge fund, according to a person familiar with the firm.
Wednesday 6/3 Insider Buying Report: AFG, HRZN (Nasdaq.com)
At American Financial Group, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Monday, Director Kenneth C. Ambrecht purchased 4,000 shares of AFG, for a cost of $59.88 each, for a total investment of $239,530. So far Ambrecht is in the green, up about 11.6% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $66.81. American Financial Group is trading up about 7% on the day Wednesday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Ambrecht in the past year. And on Tuesday, President Gerald A. Michaud bought $169,562 worth of Horizon Technology Finance, buying 14,900 shares at a cost of $11.38 a piece. Before this latest buy, Michaud made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $42,000 shares at a cost of $12.00 a piece. Horizon Technology Finance is trading up about 3.9% on the day Wednesday. So far Michaud is in the green, up about 3.6% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $11.79.
T. Rowe Price Group Inc (TROW) CEO and President William J Stromberg Sold $3.7 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO and President of T. Rowe Price Group Inc., William J Stromberg, sold 30,000 shares of TROW on 06/02/2020 at an average price of $121.8 a share. The total sale was $3.7 million. T. Rowe Price Group Inc is a financial services holding company. It provides company sponsored U.S. mutual funds, other sponsored pooled investment vehicles, subadvisory services, separate account management, recordkeeping, and related services.
The CEO of United Parcel (NYSE: UPS) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the CEO of United Parcel (UPS), Carol Tome, bought shares of UPS for $1M. This recent transaction increases Carol Tome’s holding in the company by 119.06% to a total of $1.84 million. Following Carol Tome’s last UPS Buy transaction on February 18, 2014, the stock climbed by 20.5%.
