Dan Loeb’s Third Point Lost 11% in 2018 (The Wall Street Journal)
Activist hedge fund Third Point lost about 11% last year, according to a document and people familiar with the matter. In December alone Third Point was down about 6%, according to an investor update reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Third Point was one of many hedge funds that struggled in 2018. The average fund lost 2% through November.
Detour Gold names Paulson-backed Bill Williams as interim CEO (Reuters)
Jan 3 (Reuters) – Detour Gold said on Thursday it has picked Paulson & Co-backed nominee Bill Williams to be its interim chief executive officer, replacing Michael Kenyon. The Canadian gold miner was previously involved in a months-long proxy fight with billionaire John Paulson’s hedge fund, which pushed for a complete overhaul of the board and Kenyon’s resignation. Williams is a mining industry veteran and was a former CEO of gold and copper miner Orvana Minerals Corp.
Alex Oakenman / shutterstock.com
Hedge Fund DE Shaw Eyes New ‘Risk Premia’ Strategies (AFR.com)
New York | DE Shaw, the $US 50 billion-in-assets hedge fund founded by the reclusive computer scientist David Shaw, is planning to open up a new ” risk premia” strategy for investors, as it expands its suite of products into a hot area of asset management. The New York-based hedge fund group, founded above a Communist bookstore in 1988, is best known for its computer-powered “quantitative” investing, but has gradually moved into a range of more traditional, non-hedge fund strategies.
The Struggle Continues for Hedge Fund Reinsurers (Reinsurancene.ws)
Hedge fund backed reinsurers Greenlight Capital Re and Third Point Re both reported negative investment returns in the final month of 2018, contributing to negative returns for the full-year and once again bringing the efficacy of this business model into question. Greenlight Re recorded its steepest monthly decline of the year in December 2018 of -8.9%, which, combined with nine other months producing negative returns, saw the firm record its lowest ever year-end investment return in 2018, at -30.2%.
WSJ Wealth Adviser Briefing: Top Hedge-Fund Managers, Private-Equity Firms, Rewards Cards (The Wall Street Journal)
Hedge-fund managers once again lagged behind the broader market and will have to show they are worth their high fees. Those that don’t deliver this year might have to make difficult decisions. Below, some of the best analysis and insight from WSJ writers and columnists, the Dow Jones Newswires team and occasionally beyond, on investing…
Top Hedge Funds Rack Up $2 Billion in Losses on Their Apple Holdings (Bloomberg)
Eight hedge funds that own large stakes in Apple Inc. have seen the value of their holdings plunge about $2.13 billion since the company cut its revenue outlook. AQR Capital Management saw its holdings decline by about $732 million on Thursday as the stock slid as much as 9 percent. The firm held 8.8 million shares as of Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adage Capital Management’s stake dropped by almost $500 million. Apple was the firm’s biggest holding as of Sept 30. It held about 6 million shares valued at $1.35 billion on that date.
Eddie Lampert Not Ready To Leave Sears Behind (DealBreaker)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne? Lampert is competing against a number of liquidators and other investors who want to buy Sears piecemeal — a smaller number of stores or one or two business units, like its home services division. All bidders will compete in an auction that’s scheduled for Jan. 14. For auld lang syne, my jo, for auld lang syne, We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
