Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Stanley Druckenmiller, Aurelius Capital Management, Farallon Capital, Arrow Electronics, Inc. (ARW), Biglari Holdings Inc (BH), and More

Druckenmiller Protege’s Fund Hit by Investor Redemptions (The Wall Street Journal)
PointState Capital LP was hit with about $1 billion in redemptions this year through September, said people familiar with the matter, as the New York hedge fund faces the prospect of its second losing year in a row. The redemption requests came before PointState suffered losses in November tied to big bets it has on satellite operator Intelsat SA and on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The fund, now with about $6 billion in assets after the redemptions were paid, was up 1% for the year through October but was down for the year…

Hedge Fund Cares Deeply For The Benighted People Of Puerto Rico (And The $379.5 Million They Owe It) (Deal Breaker)
Some might call Aurelius Capital Management founder Mark Brodsky a vulture investor. Others might call him a financial and economic terrorist. (Actually, it was the same person-former Argentine president and incoming Argentine vice president Cristina Kirchner-who called him both.) There are other epithets: prophet of doom, “the main hurdle for Puerto Rico.” Mark Brodsky sees himself as something else: A defender of disenfranchised Americans, people of color, the Constitution, truth, justice, etc.

Why Did Farallon Capital Get Out of These 3 Biotech Stocks? (Nasdaq.com)
Since 1986, Farallon Capital has built a proven record for success, mainly from steady hands at the helm and consistent returns for investors. The firm was founded by Tom Steyer, with $15 million in initial capital, and when he retired as managing director in 2012 Farallon had grown to hold over $20 billion in assets under management. Steyer’s successor, Andrew Spokes, has continued the firm’s strategy of ‘absolute return’ investing, assuming every investment has a guaranteed return. As far as stocks are concerned, this investment strategy tends toward the conservative – but it also tends to ensure a good return.

Insider Trading Back

Luis Louro / shutterstock.com

Asset Bleed Continues (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Last month, investors pulled money out of hedge funds for the eighth consecutive month, according to eVestment. Following net redemptions of $6.2 billion in October, the global hedge fund industry experienced net outflows of $87.9 billion year-to-date to the end of October. According to eVestment, the most recent eight-month period “marks the most prolonged redemption pressures on the industry since 2008/2009.” The last time the industry experienced so many consecutive months of net redemptions was the period between the third quarter of 2008 and April of 2009.

Wall Street’s Warnings on Warren Turn Into Bet by One Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
For weeks now, some of Wall Street’s biggest names — Paul Tudor Jones, Steve Cohen, Leon Cooperman — have been arguing that an Elizabeth Warren presidency would sink U.S. financial markets. Those were just idle forecasts, though. No one said they were doing anything differently as a result. Until now. Scott Bessent, the Soros Fund Management alum who runs a $4.5 billion macro hedge fund named Key Square Capital Management, is shorting the dollar in a bid to monetize the market reaction he anticipates.

Activist Investor Seeks to oust Trump Friend Barrack from CEO Job at Colony Capital (Reuters)
BOSTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Activist investor Blackwells is pushing to remove Tom Barrack, a billionaire friend of President Donald Trump, as CEO of Colony Capital, saying his mismanagement of the real estate and investment firm has cost shareholders billions of dollars in lost gains. Blackwells, which owns a 1.85% stake in Colony Capital, also wants to install five new directors on the company’s board, saying investors have soured on the company during Barrack’s tenure and will return only when a new leader is named and independent directors are seated.

BVI: The New Home of the Start-up Hedge Fund Manager (Hedge Week)
By Simon Gray, BVI Finance – A new generation of hedge fund managers are looking to make a name for themselves. But starting a fund, raising money and managing a back office can be a gruelling task even for the most talented rising stars. The main challenge for a start-up hedge fund manager is that institutional investors are looking for a three-year track record before they even consider investing, while alternative sources of funding expect at least 12-18 months of experience.

Top Hedge Fund Sees Bargains in Brazil Retail, Health Stocks (Bloomberg)
At the height of Brazil’s recession, Pedro Sales was uncomfortably sitting on a pile of cash at the nation’s biggest independent fund manager. “We had a high degree of certainty Brazil was going bust so I kept 50% cash in our equity funds, a total outlier,” said Sales, a Verde Asset Management SA partner, who manages local equity investments.

BGOV Bill Summary: H.R. 2534, Insider Trading Ban (Bloomberg Law)
A ban on insider trading of corporate securities would be codified and expanded under a modified version of H.R. 2534, making it easier for the government to prosecute cases against company insiders and recipients of confidential tips. Insider trading refers to transactions based on material nonpublic information, in violation of a duty of trust or confidence that individuals owe to their employers. It can also occur when insiders provide such information to other people who trade securities based on it.

The Chairman & CEO of Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Chairman & CEO of Biglari Holdings (BH), Sardar Biglari, bought shares of BH for $361.2K. Following Sardar Biglari’s last BH Buy transaction on November 20, 2019, the stock climbed by 3.0%. Over the last month, Sardar Biglari has reported another 3 Buy trades on BH for a total of $3.51M.

Arrow Electronics Inc (ARW) Chairman, President & CEO Michael J Long Sold $4.8 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Chairman, President & CEO of Arrow Electronics Inc., Michael J Long, sold 60,122 shares of ARW on 11/25/2019 at an average price of $80.45 a share. The total sale was $4.8 million. Arrow Electronics Inc is a value-added distributor of electronic components, software, and data center infrastructure hardware. The company primarily sells semiconductors, software, storage, and servers to electronic equipment manufacturers and resellers.

Three 7%-8% Yields Worth Checking Out – One With Insider Buying (Seeking Alpha)
The yields are 7.37% and 7.83%. Recent insider purchases of 135,000 shares, worth ~$3.5M. Upside potential, valuations, financials also detailed. Two alternative high-yield trades also are discussed – annualized yields of 9% to 16%. If you’re looking for an opportunity to “invest like an insider,” you may want to take a look at Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC (FTAI), one of whose directors shelled out ~$3.5M for 135,000 shares in September for FTAI’s preferred A series shares, (FTAI.PA).

Insider Trading: November 26, 2019 (BIV.com)
Insider Ronald Douglas Miller, director. Company: Parex Resources Inc. (TSX:PXT). Shares owned: 58,425. Trade date: November 15. Trade total: $2,066,000. Trade: Sale of 100,000 shares at a price of $20.66 per share. Insider Ana Cristina Cabral, 10% owner. Company: Sigma Lithium Resources Corp. (TSX-V:SGMA). Shares owned: 20,400. Trade date: November 14. Trade total: $722,000. Trade: Sale of 380,000 shares at a price of $1.90 per share.