US Hedge Fund Balyasny Names Dubai Chief (FundsGlobalMena.com)
Balyasny Asset Management, a US-based hedge fund, has named Tarek Rizk as its head for the Mena market. Based in Dubai, Rizk will head up the firm’s newly established Mena office in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) as well as taking responsibility for leading the firm’s expansion across the Middle East. He was most recently the global head of alternative investments for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The appointment continues the expansion of international hedge funds in the region.
Lincoln National’s CRE Exposure Targeted by Two Hedge Funds (Reuters)
Two hedge funds have placed bets that bonds issued by life insurance company Lincoln National Corp (LNC.N) will fall or that its default risk will increase, due to their concerns about the company’s commercial real estate (CRE) exposure. Investors have been on high alert for losses in CRE. That sector has faced challenges since the pandemic after hybrid working arrangements led to a sharp increase office vacancies. At the same time, higher interest rates made repaying debt more challenging. In the past few months, Mill Hill Capital has taken short positions in Lincoln National’s credit, it said, while Saba Capital has held the firm’s credit default swaps, a derivative that offers investors protection against a default, a source familiar with the matter said. The source requested anonymity because the trades are not public.
Cortes Campers Parent Agrees to Sell $1 Million in Stock to Hedge Fund (BizJournals.com)
US Lighting Group Inc., the maker of Cortes Campers, has agreed to sell up to $1 million of its common stock to Alumni Capital Management, a Miami-based hedge fund. Alumni Capital Management describes itself on its LinkedIn page as “a millennial hedge fund consisting of both alumni and students from various schools throughout the U.S.” “Our top-line expansion continues unabated, but we need capital to accelerate production and meet increasing demand,” said Anthony Corpora, CEO of Euclid, Ohio-based US Lighting, which operates a handful of businesses that make molded fiberglass vehicles and structures.
Checkout.com’s Billionaire Founder Opens Philanthropic Fund (Forbes)
One of Europe’s wealthiest tech billionaires Guillaume Pousaz, founder of payments startup Checkout.com, has quietly set up a charitable foundation with his wife Laure Pousaz. Pousaz Philanthropies intends to support “quality and safe education” for children and had already partnered with education non-profits like Khan Academy and Global School Leaders, as well as think tank Center for Global Development, and the former hedge fund billionaire Christopher Chandler’s Luminos Fund, according to its website launched in September.
K2 Hedge Fund Strategy Outlook: Q3 2023 (Seeking Alpha)
The current environment looks favorable for equity market neutral, global macro and insurance-linked securities, according to K2 Advisors. The team offers its mid-year outlook for these and other hedge fund strategies. As we reach the mid-year mark, which is a time when we thought we would have more clarity on economic trends, inflation, geopolitical pressures and central bank biases, we arguably have more uncertainty and a wider range of reasonable outcomes.
