‘An Open Invitation to Pollute’: Billionaire Tom Steyer on the EPA Allowing Businesses to Self-monitor During Coronavirus Pandemic (CNBC)
Former Democratic presidential hopeful Tom Steyer isn’t too happy with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) temporary rollback of environmental laws amid the coronavirus pandemic, calling it an “open invitation to pollute.” On Thursday, the EPA announced that companies will now be responsible for monitoring their own air and water pollution throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency also said it does not expect to seek fines or penalties “for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”
Billionaire Investor Steve Cohen: ‘After an Earthquake There are Tremors’ (Reuters)
BOSTON, March 31 (Reuters) – Billionaire trader Steven A. Cohen is cautioning the staff of his investment firm, Point72 Asset Management, to remain cautious amid markets that have recovered slightly from coronavirus-driven lows. “Markets don’t come back in a straight line; after an earthquake there are tremors,” Cohen wrote to staff on Friday in an internal memo seen by Reuters. “We need to continue to be disciplined. We are seeing plenty of opportunities to generate returns, but I don’t want us taking undue risks.”
Credit Hedge Fund Suspends Redemptions in Sign of Market Stress (The Wall Street Journal)
Hedge fund EJF Capital LLC told clients it was suspending redemptions from one of its funds for the foreseeable future because it didn’t want to be a forced seller in what it called “dysfunctional” credit markets. The $7 billion EJF, founded by Emanuel “Manny” Friedman, told clients in a letter Friday it was preventing investors from withdrawing their money from its Debt Opportunities Fund. That fund managed $2.5 billion at the end of February. While the fund received redemption requests totaling only 6% of its assets under…
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How Ray Dalio navigates Downturns (CMC Markets)
Ray Dalio and his team at Bridgewater Associates are famously one of the few hedge funds that called – and profited from – the 2008 financial crisis. More recently, he labelled Bitcoin a bubble not only months before it popped, but before the great rally of Christmas 2017 had begun. Yet despite the warning of an impending downturn for the past two years, Dalio recently admitted that he was blindsided by the recent crash, missing out on opportunities as the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe and brought down markets down with it.
SEB Fund Put into Liquidation (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – SEB Alternative Fixed Income has been put into liquidation effective immediately following an extraordinary meeting of shareholders that took place on March 25. “The decision to liquidate is a consequence of the continued challenging environment for the fund’s investment strategies and we do not see that this will change going forward,” writes an announcement by SEB Investment Management. Launched in December 2011, SEB Alternative Fixed Income was a macro and relative-value hedge fund with an absolute return target, aiming to generate positive returns regardless of the direction of broader bond and stock markets.
How Some Investors Have Profited from the Stock Market’s Huge Losses (CNN Business)
New York (CNN Business) Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman appeared on CNBC earlier this month tearfully begging for the stock market to be shut down because he thought “hell” was coming.” But investors didn’t realize that Ackman was about to profit in a big way from the turmoil on Wall Street. Ackman recently disclosed in a shareholder letter to investors in his Pershing Square Capital Management funds that he made $2.6 billion as stocks fell. How did Ackman do that? He had hedges designed to generate a profit as the broader market tanked in the wake of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
Activist Investor Starboard Says It has 9.3% Stake in Software Firm Commvault (Reuters)
BOSTON (Reuters) – Activist investor Starboard Value LP has built a stake in U.S. data protection and data management software company Commvault, saying in a regulatory filing that it felt the shares were undervalued when it purchased them. The New York-based hedge fund has built a roughly 9.3% position in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public on Monday afternoon. The filing said the firm owns 4.3 million shares. Shares of Commvault jumped 7.3% in after hours trading, after having closed the session at $39.13.
