Steve Cohen’s Venture Firm Invests in U.S. Cybersecurity Company (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures has invested in a U.S. cybersecurity firm that will provide a way to detect, alert, and protect against data- and identity-related attacks, according to one of the venture capital company’s top officials. Armorblox is the first investment of Point72 Ventures’ enterprise technology group, said Noah Carr, a partner at the venture capital firm in an interview with Reuters. Point72 declined to disclose the amount invested in the company.
Bristol-Myers Says Starboard Nominated Five Directors, Bought Shares (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co said on Wednesday that activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP intends to nominate five directors to the U.S. drugmaker’s board, one month after it announced a $74 billion deal to acquire peer Celgene Corp. Reuters reported last week that Starboard was working with a proxy solicitor to gauge the level of support among Bristol-Myers shareholders for the Celgene deal. If it finds enough discontent, Starboard could agitate against it.
Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock.com
Maryland Allocates Nearly $800 million to 9 Managers (Pensions&Investments)
Maryland State Retirement & Pension System, Baltimore, committed or invested $798 million to nine managers in the fourth quarter of 2018. According to documents from the Tuesday board meeting, the $50 billion system invested $200 million in Marshall Wace TOPS China A, a public equity strategy. On the private equity side, the pension committed $100 million Bain Capital Asia Fund IV, a private equity fund focused on Asia-based investment opportunities; $75 million to PAG Asia III, an Asia-focused buyout fund; $70 million to buyout fund Roark Capital Partners V, managed by Roark Capital Group; $30 million to NMS Fund III, a buyout fund managed by New Mainstream Capital; and $30 million to growth fund ChrysCapital VII.
Hedge Funds Make Solid Start to 2019 (HedgeWeek)
Investor optimism spurred by a variety of favourable conditions pushed hedge funds to a solid start in 2019 with a 3.88 per cent return in January, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions. All of Barclay’s 31 hedge fund indices ended the month with gains. By comparison, the S&P 500 Total Return Index climbed to 8.01 per cent in January. Strong stock market results and relief from the equity market volatility of recent months clearly contributed to hedge funds’ positive performance in January.
Diamondback Founders Lining Up Investors (HFAlert.com)
Lawrence Sapanski and Richard Schimel could launch their next hedge fund with substantially more capital than originally anticipated. Since word got out in September that the Diamondback Capital co-founders planned to reunite, Sapanski and Schimel have formed a fund-management business called Cinctive Capital. The firm’s staff so far includes at least one other Diamondback alumnus: portfolio manager Michael Sedoy. An initial report in The Wall Street Journal said Sapanski and Schimel hoped to launch with $500 million — a reasonable target considering that Diamondback peaked at $6 billion before being tripped up by an insider-trading probe. But indications now are that Cinctive could begin trading with $750 million to $1 billion.
Asgard Credit Fund Nets Ten Percent in January (HedgeNordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Seeing equity hedge funds deliver double-digit returns in a single month is not unusual, but having a fixed-income-focused vehicle achieve such returns is impressive. Asgard Credit Fund, a Copenhagen-based hedge fund investing in corporate credit markets worldwide, netted a ten percent gain in January, recouping last year’s losses in one single month. In a brief interview with HedgeNordic, portfolio manager Daniel Vesterbaek Pedersen (pictured) discusses the market turmoil of the fourth quarter, outlines the main drivers of his fund’s January performance and shares his market views for the current year.
Hedge Funds Coming Off Record Short Could Boost This Gold Rally (Bloomberg)
Gold’s rally could have further to run if hedge fund managers ramp up bullish bets after last year’s extended big short. The metal soared to a 10-month high of $1,346.80 an ounce on Wednesday as a mounting chorus warn of an imminent slowdown in global growth — yet, the fast money has largely missed this uptrend.
Tellus More: US Hedge Funds Bankroll Aussie Waste Project (AFR.com)
It’s pretty quiet in distressed debt markets, so it is interesting to see where two of the biggest players in Australian distressed debt have popped up. Street Talk can reveal US-headquartered hedge funds Anchorage Capital Group and CarVal are the mysterious investors bankrolling a big new waste project located in Western Australia. It is understood Anchorage and CarVal will together provide a $102 million debt facility to Tellus Holdings; a privately-owned company that is developing the mooted Sandy Ridge waste facility north west of Kalgoorlie.
