At White House ceremony, President Trump calls out for no-show Chicago billionaire Ken Griffin: ‘Where the hell is he?’ (ChicagoTribune.com)
During a White House ceremony Wednesday to sign a first-round trade pact with China, President Donald Trump thanked a long list of elected leaders and called out the names of U.S. business executives whose companies might benefit – including a few from Illinois. Locals who got the nod included U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Peoria Republican, whom the president offered a short: “Darin, thank you very much Darin. Good job.” But things got a little awkward when, at one point, the president name-checked Illinois’ wealthiest resident. “Ken Griffin. Citadel. What a guy he is,” the president said, referring to the Chicago-based hedge fund billionaire Griffin, who founded Citadel and now serves as the company’s CEO.
Far Point to Buy Global Blue From Silver Lake (The Wall Street Journal)
Far Point Acquisition Corp., the blank-check company launched by former New York Stock Exchange President Thomas Farley, said Thursday it plans to buy Swiss payments company Global Blue for $2.6 billion, including debt. The deal would hand Global Blue a U.S. listing and an additional $1 billion from Far Point and investors including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. affiliate Ant Financial Services Group and Daniel Loeb’s activist hedge fund Third Point LLC.
Ray Dalio Says Anyone Who Wants to Understand Today’s World should Read a 32-Year-Old Book about Empires (Business Insider)
For the past few years, the billionaire Ray Dalio has been sounding the alarm on the rise of populism throughout the world, and he’s been especially concerned about the United States. As the founder and co-CIO of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, Dalio is one of the most influential voices in finance, and he thinks capitalism is facing an “existential threat” in America.
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Kyle Bass’s Doomsday Call on Hong Kong Isn’t Convincing Markets (Bloomberg)
Kyle Bass is convinced Hong Kong is headed for a financial crisis, and he’s warning investors every chance he gets. Few seem to be listening. The Dallas-based hedge fund manager, who made a fortune betting against subprime mortgages more than a decade ago, issued his latest dire Hong Kong forecast on Wednesday, saying in a Bloomberg TV interview that the city would suffer a “full-fledged banking crisis” in 2020. Citing a “collapse” in the local economy and high levels of financial leverage, he compared Hong Kong to Iceland and Ireland before those nations’ banking systems imploded during the global financial crisis.
Polar Capital Taps Hedge Fund for Head of Trading (Citywire.co.uk)
Polar Capital has appointed Alex Jenkins to run the asset manager’s trading desk in a newly created role in the company. Jenkins joins as head trader, having spent five years at Highbridge Capital where she was head of European trading. She will be responsible for heading the trade desk responsible for providing Polar Capitals’ investment teams with a full-time trading service.
Hidden Success Factors of Board Performance (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – On January 14, activist investor Accendo Capital hosted a lunch discussion entitled “Hidden Success Factors of Board Performance.” As an engaged owner in a concentrated portfolio of Nordic companies, Accendo performs a lot of work behind the scenes, away from the public eye. Senior Partner Mark Shay explained in his introductory remarks, “We aim to create value together with other like-minded investors by investing in promising companies and trying to get our heads around what their problems are and how we can deal with them in a constructive way.
SS&C GlobeOp Hedge Fund Performance Index up 1.65 per cent in December (Hedge Week)
The gross return of the SS&C GlobeOp Hedge Fund Performance Index for December 2019 measured 1.65 per cent. Hedge fund flows as measured by the SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index declined 1.84 per cent in January. “SS&C GlobeOp’s Capital Movement Index for January 2020 of -1.84 per cent reflects net outflows consistent with seasonal patterns. It should be noted that the -1.84 per cent is well below long term averages for the calendar month of January, and is also lower than the -2.13 per cent reported a year ago,” says Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SS&C Technologies.
