Stanley Druckenmiller Says He Bought GE Stock During Plunge Amid Fraud Accusations (CNBC)
Hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller said he bought General Electric shares on Thursday during the stock’s double-digit plunge brought about by a report from Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos accusing the conglomerate of an Enron-like fraud. “I believe Culp…I bought stock today,” Druckenmiller told CNBC’s Kelly Evans in a statement. GE shares cut losses slightly on the news of the Druckenmiller position, but were still down 11% and headed for the worst decline in 11 years.
Activist Urges Care.com to Explore Sale (The Wall Street Journal)
An activist investor is urging Care.com, the largest marketplace for online caregivers, to pursue a sale, saying the company is “at a crossroads.” The push by hedge fund Engine Capital LP, revealed in a letter sent to the company’s board Thursday, comes a week after Care.com said its founder and chief executive, Sheila Lirio Marcelo, would step down as CEO. The company said Ms. Marcelo will become executive chairwoman.
Luis Louro / shutterstock.com
Bill Ackman’s hedge fund reveals new stake in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) (Business Insider)
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway has a new stockholder: Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square Capital. The activist investor held 3.51 million shares of Berkshire’s Class B stock as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing released on Wednesday. The stake was worth more than $696 million as of early trading on Thursday. According to Bloomberg, Ackman’s investment is expected to be passive.
Burford Capital Replaces Finance Chief to Appease Investors (The Guardian)
Burford Capital is replacing its chairman and finance chief in an effort to appease shareholders, following allegations of poor governance and murky accounting practices made by a US hedge fund. Burford, which specialises in funding lawsuits in exchange for a cut of the settlements, has faced criticism over the fact that its chief financial officer, Elizabeth O’Connell, is married to the chief executive, Christopher Bogart. Muddy Waters, the San Francisco-based hedge fund that made the allegations, said the relationship of the pair posed a conflict of interest and should “alarm investors”.
Want to Know Warren Buffett’s Recent Investing Positions? Read Berkshire’s 13F Form. (Barron’s)
Warren Buffett likes Amazon.com and bank stocks, Dan Loeb added more Netflix , and John Paulson’s fund took a stake in Sotheby’s in the second quarter. Hedge funds and other big money managers have recently revealed their positions as of June 30. The filings offer a window into the thinking of some of the country’s most famous investors, who don’t often reveal their holdings to the public. It is important to note, however, that the holdings represent only what they owned at the end of the quarter. They may have sold or increased the positions since then.
Coeli Launches Climate-Focused Hedge Fund (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Stockholm-headquartered asset manager Coeli Asset Management is launching a new climate-focused, market-neutral energy equity fund on August 16. Coeli Energy Transition will be managed by Vidar Kalvoy and Joel Etzler, two experienced portfolio managers who previously operated a similar strategy at London-based alternative asset manager Horizon Asset. Coeli Energy Transition focuses on the accelerating transition from fossil fuels towards more sustainable energy alternatives. The market-neutral investment approach enables the new fund to simultaneously influence the climate in the right direction and protect capital in the event of a downturn.
Hedge Funds are Cozying up to Uber but Snubbing Lyft (Business Insider)
Some of the world’s largest hedge funds snapped up shares of Uber in the second-quarter following the ride-hailing giant’s initial public offering. But investment managers weren’t feeling as optimistic about the company’s biggest competitor, Lyft, in the second quarter, regulatory filings show. Hedge funds are required to disclose their stakes in public companies four times a year, following the close of each quarter. Because Lyft went public at the very end of the first quarter, its likely that the funds interested in the stock bought in then, and already disclosed the holdings in April.
