Hedge Funds to Record More Closures Than Launches for Fifth Straight Year (Bloomberg)
The pain kept coming for hedge funds in 2019: if they weren’t being killed off, they were bleeding cash or wringing out dismal returns. The industry is now on track to record more closures than launches for a fifth straight year, a blow to a market that once minted millionaires at a heady pace. More than 4,000 funds have been liquidated in the past five years, according to data compiled by Hedge Fund Research Inc. Billionaires Louis Bacon and Jeffrey Vinik were among veterans who rocked the more than $3 trillion industry this year by handing back capital to clients. Many found themselves out of step with the longest running bull market in history, while others faced investor revolt or couldn’t raise enough to stay in the game. Some had just been doing it for too long, and wanted out.
Hedge Funds Loved This Investment in 2019 (Institutional Investor)
Unicorns may get most of the IPO headlines. But as far as some hedge funds are concerned, healthcare – especially fledgling biopharma companies – is where the action is when it comes to new issues. In 2019, 69 healthcare IPOs raised $9.2 billion, according to Renaissance Capital, a provider of institutional pre-IPO research. Roughly two-thirds of them – 44 of 69- ended the year above their issue price. Their average return was 46 percent.
Hedge Funds: Josh Samuelson to Retire from PointState Capital (DailYalts.com)
The PointState Capital manager couldn’t rebound from a tough 2018. Josh Samuelson is departing PointState Capital, the firm he co-founded. According to a letter from co-founder Zach Schrieber, Samuelson “has decided to retire from investment management.” The manager plans to stay at the hedge fund for “several months” while leadership changes. The departure comes at a difficult time for the fund, which lost 19% in 2018. The firm was on the wrong side of oil stock positions during the fourth quarter of last year. The firm reported gains of less than 1% this year. However, reports show that it gained 3.6% through December.
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Tom Steyer Talks About ‘Taking Back Our Government’ at Denver Town Hall (Gazette.com)
California Democrat Tom Steyer said Sunday at a Denver town hall that he decided to get in the 2020 presidential race after listening to the other primary candidates talk about critical policy goals without addressing what he had determined was at the root of so many of the nation’s problems, including the climate crisis, inadequate health care and a dysfunctional immigration system.
Coltrane Asset Management Bets Against Future Magazines (TheTimes.co.uk)
An American hedge fund that blocked a rescue deal for Interserve, the giant outsourcer, has taken a £17 million short position in Future, the fast-growing magazine and website owner. Coltrane Asset Management is betting that the publisher’s share price is heading for a fall. Future, which is based in Bath and owns print titles and websites such as PC Gamer and Total Film, has been the strongest performer on the stock market this year. Since the start of January its market value has trebled to £1.45 billion.
A Decade of Market Wins for Hindsight Capital LLC (Bloomberg)
Another decade is in the books. As the 2010s draw to a close, it is once again time to visit my friends at Hindsight Capital LLC, a very special hedge fund. For the uninitiated, Hindsight Capital, a figment of my imagination, is the most successful hedge fund of all time, and uses the one strategy guaranteed to beat all others, all of the time: hindsight. It places its trades in full knowledge of how they will end up.
Bitcoin Hopium: Hedge Fund Manager Makes A Bullish 2020 Prediction (BitcoinExchangeGuide.com)
Bitcoin to end the next year over 2019 high – Hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz. Much bolder predictions see BTC doubling the ATH in 2020. “Better luck in 2021 with your predictions,” – says Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson to Novogratz who projects Trump not winning 2020 elections. Hedge fund titan Michael Novogratz has made some surprising predictions for 2020. The Bitcoin bull is expecting the leading cryptocurrency to spike to 2019 high. “Btc finishes over 12k,” is one of the few predictions made by Novogratz. Currently, we are trading around $7,400 with 24 hours gains of 1.44%, as per Coincodex.
