Steve Cohen’s Secret Weapon for the Mets: His Hedge Fund (The Wall Street Journal)
In the 18 months since billionaire hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen bought the New York Mets, the baseball world has wondered how the sport’s wealthiest owner would use his vast resources and financial acumen to fix a historically hapless organization. The answer was both simple and revolutionary: He brought his hedge fund to the Mets—literally. Some senior employees from Cohen’s firm, Point72 Asset Management, have been moonlighting as Mets employees in crucial roles, according to staffers’ LinkedIn pages, the Mets’ website and people familiar with the matter. Many are tasked with improving the team’s once-outdated infrastructure, data-analytics capabilities and technological prowess.
Sachem Head Wins ISS Support for Three Nominees at U.S. Foods (Bloomberg)
Activist investor Sachem Head Capital Management won the support of a prominent shareholder advisory firm for three of its five nominees for the board of U.S. Foods Holding Corp. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. said in a report Monday it appears that U.S. Foods has underperformed its peers, and that electing three of Sachem Head’s nominees creates a path to replace management if needed.
Hedge Fund Billionaire Dan Loeb Appears to be Courting NYC Mayor Eric Adams Over Charter Schools (CNBC)
Eric Adams and Dan Loeb have been privately speaking since the mayor’s inauguration earlier this year. The election of Adams marked a shift in the city’s relationship with charter schools from former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who favored public schools over the publicly funded but independently run schools. Loeb has long been one of the city’s most affluent charter school supporters and served as the past chairman of Success Academy, which operates a network of about 50 schools in New York City.
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AIM Capital Hires Portfolio Manager (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Finnish asset manager AIM Capital has announced the expansion of its alternative investment capabilities with the appointment of Kristian Laitinen as a Portfolio Manager. Laitinen joins AIM Capital from OP Bank, where he worked in various executive roles. “We are excited to add Kristian to our growing investment team,” says Miikka Hautamaki, CEO and Managing Partner of AIM Capital. “Kristian joining the firm is an important next step in accelerating our growth strategy as the market opportunity for alternatives continues to grow and evolve,” he continues. “Kristian has extensive experience that will help to create long-term value for clients.”
HFRI Reports Gains for Hedge Funds in April (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds posted gains in April, as global equities and bonds suffered historic declines, accelerating an unprecedented hedge fund outperformance trend driven by powerful, broad-based gains across macro sub-strategies, according to data released by HFRI. Extending the trend from Q1 2022, macro hedge funds surged to lead industry-wide gains in April, again posting strong returns as financial market volatility was exacerbated by skyrocketing inflation, rising interest rates and expectations for continued increases, and escalation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
There is ‘More Pain’ for Bitcoin Ahead, Says Billionaire Ex-Hedge Fund Manager (Finbold.com)
Mike Novogratz, a well-known American investor and the current CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, has predicted that cryptocurrencies will continue to be associated with the Nasdaq in the meantime. In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Novogratz expressed his thoughts on the present situation of the cryptocurrency sector, which is now experiencing a bearish sentiment in the market. When asked what he thinks would happen to Bitcoin in the future, the investor said that cryptocurrency would continue to be associated with the Nasdaq stock market index.
Chelsea FC Deal is Rare Window on US Hedge Fund Movers and Shakers (Proactive Investors)
Clearlake Capital’s Chelsea consortium, which is spearheaded by American tycoon Todd Boehly, is expected shortly to complete the biggest sporting takeover in history. Chelsea announced in the early hours of Saturday morning it would be submitting the £4.25bn proposed deal to the UK government and Premier League for approval, with reports claiming the deal could be finalised before the month-end.
Loeb’s Third Point Net Equity Exposure Lowest in a Decade, Adding to Oil and Gas Names (Investing.com)
In his first quarter letter to investors, Dan Loeb said his Third Point LLC flagship Offshore Fund fell 11.5% during the quarter and the fund adopted a significantly more defensive posture. However, in April, the fund performed strongly versus the market, falling just 1% versus drops of 8% and 13% for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, respectively. Loeb is adding to Oil and Gas stocks and initiating short positions. Loeb said the firm’s net exposure is lower and buying power higher than at any time during the last ten years. Their beta-adjusted net equity exposure is down to 41% at the end of Q1 from 75% at the start of the year.
Insider Trading: May 9, 2022 (BIV)
Insider Justin Blanchet, officer. Company: K92 mining Inc. (TSX:KNT). Shares owned: 100,000. Trade date: Apr 22. Trade total: $785,600. Trade: Sale of 80,000 shares at a price of $9.82 per share. Insider Harry Sloan, director. Company: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:LGF). Shares owned: 150,488. Trade date: Apr 22. Trade total: US$636,000. Trade: Sale of 50,000 shares at a price of US$12.72 per share.
Monday 5/9 Insider Buying Report: TFC, SAGE (Nasdaq.com)
At Truist Financial, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Steven C. Voorhees bought 20,000 shares of TFC, at a cost of $49.82 each, for a total investment of $996,320. Investors are able to bag TFC at a price even lower than Voorhees did, with shares changing hands as low as $48.23 in trading on Monday which is 3.2% below Voorhees’s purchase price. Truist Financial is trading down about 0.8% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Voorhees made one other purchase in the past year, buying $592,080 shares for a cost of $59.21 a piece. And at Sage Therapeutics, there was insider buying on Thursday, by George Golumbeski who purchased 8,000 shares at a cost of $31.45 each, for a trade totaling $251,563. This buy marks the first one filed by Golumbeski in the past year.
Insider Weekends: “Adjusted” Insider Buying Increased Last Week With Insiders Purchasing $176.54 Million Of Stock (Benzinga)
Notable Insider Buys: 1. B. Riley Financial, Inc. (RILY) $51.02: Shares of B. Riley Financial were acquired by 6 insiders: Chairman and Co-CEO Bryant R. Riley acquired 241,343 shares, paying $47.23 per share for a total amount of $11.39 million. Mr. Riley increased his stake by 4.42% to 5,698,313 shares with this purchase. 2. General Electric Company (GE) $78.23: Shares of General Electric were acquired by 3 insiders: Chairman and CEO Lawrence H. Culp Jr. acquired 65,000 shares, paying $74.53 per share for a total amount of $4.84 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by a holding company.
