Steve Cohen’s Amazin’, Maddening, Money-Losing Bid to Own New York (The New York Times)
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Around early 2020, before the New York Mets were his, Steven A. Cohen received an unexpected request: Justin Verlander, then the Houston Astros’ ace, wanted to speak with him. The subject was not baseball. “He was wondering about hedge fund investments,” Cohen, a hedge fund billionaire, said in an interview, wandering between practice fields in a semi-tucked golf polo at the Mets’ spring facility. “I met him through a friend. ‘Sure, I’ll help you out. I’ll help you think about it.’ Why not?”
Billionaire Chris Rokos De-Risks Hedge Fund After Losses (Bloomberg)
Chris Rokos has reduced risk in his macro hedge fund in response to double-digit losses this month, which could become his second-worst since the start of the money pool. “We have de-risked following this month’s market price action, and P&L volatility has declined substantially as a result,” Rokos’s London-based investment firm told clients in a letter on Saturday, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg.
Hedge Fund Made $30 Million in Days Thanks to a Well-Timed Bet on Credit Suisse’s Problems (Fortune)
It’s been a tumultuous few weeks for Swiss lender Credit Suisse—but one hedge fund has reportedly won big from the bank’s collapse and subsequent rescue. Credit Suisse was bought out by rival UBS earlier this month in a $3.25 billion deal backed by the Swiss government, with the bank agreeing to be taken over amid concerns about its viability as a business. The historic rescue deal came after a crisis in confidence led to more than $100 million of assets being pulled out of the bank in the final three months of 2022, following years of scandals, leadership problems, and legal issues.
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Hedge Fund Marathon Asset Management Earns $30M Due To Timely Bet On Credit Suisse’s Senior Bonds (Benzinga)
Marathon Asset Management LP‘s gained around $30 million due to its opportune bet on Credit Suisse Group AG CS bonds. The hedge fund amassed around $150 million in bonds in Credit Suisse’s senior operating company at rock bottom prices just days before the Swiss bank offered to repurchase them at a high premium in a March 16 statement, Bloomberg reported citing a person with knowledge of the matter. The trade was an opportunistic move to capitalize on current bank disruption, the report added. Marathon had no prior exposure to Credit Suisse bonds before buying the positions last week.
The Eight Red Flags that Signal More Pain at Block (AFR.com)
An Australian hedge fund identified eight red flags at Block, the parent of Afterpay and the subject of an explosive attack by short-seller Hindenburg, which it argued should force investors to reconsider their bullish opinion on the stock. David Allen, manager of the Plato Global Alpha Fund, documented the dual role of Block’s chairman and chief executive, the presence of related party transactions, large growth in debtor days outstanding, increase in intangible assets, a high earnings manipulation score, the large divergence between statutory and adjusted earnings, increasing share count, and a skew toward insider selling over buying, as relevant issues.
