Viking’s Former Investment Chief is Gearing up to Launch his Own Fund in mid-2020 and Join the Long List of Tiger Management Grandcubs (Business Insider)
Ben Jacobs, the former co-chief investment officer at Viking Global, is in the process of starting his own fund, which sources tell Business Insider will be named Anomaly Capital. Jacobs is following in the path of Daniel Sundheim and other Viking standouts in starting his own fund. He spent more than a decade at O. Andreas Halvorsen‘s shop. Jacobs hopes to launch in the second half of 2020 and is currently in the process of building out his investment and business development teams. It is unclear much capital he plans to raise. Industry insiders told us that expectations are high for a big launch. Sundheim raised $4 billion for D1 Capital Partners, which began trading in 2018.
California Hedge Fund Seizes Control of Domino’s Board Overhaul (Telegraph.co.uk)
A Los Angeles hedge fund has wrestled control of Domino’s Pizza’s boardroom overhaul as the takeaway firms fights to end a long-running row with its franchisees. Activist investor Browning West was handed a seat on the board and will lead the search for the company’s top two jobs of chairman and chief executive. In a move that could delay a resolution to the crippling row with franchisees, chief executive David Wild is to stay on longer than previously thought. Domino’s has bowed to shareholder pressure and agreed to find a new chairman before he leaves, who can then pick Mr Wild’s successor.
Ex-Och-Ziff Manager Says Bribe Case Shame Is Punishment Enough (Bloomberg)
The former European head of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group told a U.S. judge that he shouldn’t be sent to prison for his minor role in a bribery scandal, because the public shame was punishment enough for his crime of lying to investigators. Michael L. Cohen, 48, was the only employee charged in a federal bribery probe of more than $100 million that was paid to government officials across Africa. Och-Ziff agreed in 2016 to pay $400 million in fines and co-founder Dan Och paid a $2 million penalty. Cohen is slated to be sentenced Nov. 19.
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Stanley Druckenmiller Calls Hedge-fund Loophole in Tax Reform ‘Outrageous‘ (StockDailyDish.com)
Stanley Druckenmiller isn‘t coming out of retirement, tax break or not. The GOP‘s proposed tax plan keeps the so-called carried-interest loophole that benefits managers of hedge funds and private equity funds. Druckenmiller, who retired from managing money for outsiders seven years ago but still invests his own money, told CNBC in a taped interview aired on Tuesday that he finds this to be “outrageous.” Carried interest is the money manager‘s cut of the fund‘s profit. It is taxed at the lower capital gains tax rate, while profit in other professions is taxed at the higher ordinary income rate.
Hedge Fund Helps Ensure Eager Shooters Won’t Be Without Their AR-15s (Deal Breaker)
The last few years have been hard on Remington Outdoor Co., which in spite of its innocuous name is actually an arms manufacturer. Specifically, it manufactures the AR-15, which can surely be used out of doors but which has an annoying habit of showing up inside of schools, churches, centers for people with developmental disabilities and hotel windows. Anyway, after one of those decidedly indoor events, in which 20 children and their teachers were slaughtered in their classrooms, Remington’s owner, Cerberus Capital Management-unlucky enough to have that shooting take place in the very Connecticut town where its founder Stephen Feinberg’s father lived-said it would sell the gunmaker.
The Unsolved Mystery of the Medallion Fund’s Success (Bloomberg)
Most people on Wall Street have a tough time explaining the Medallion Fund, managed by the hedge fund company Renaissance Technologies. The most common answer is to just shrug and call it a money printing press. Currently open only to RenTech’s employees and a few other people connected to the firm, it’s generated average annual returns of close to 70% before fees since 1988 without ever suffering a yearly loss. After fees, it’s had one down year. The Man Who Solved the Markets, a new book by Gregory Zuckerman, tells the story of Renaissance and its colorful founder Jim Simons, who worked as a mathematician and Cold War code breaker before trying his hand at the markets.
Hedge Funds Still can’t Catch Broader Market Returns (MarketWatch)
Hedge fund performance perked up in October, but continued to lag the returns of the broader financial market indexes, according to data released Tuesday. An index of global hedge fund performance rose 0.26% in October, according to data compiler Eurekahedge. In the first ten months of the year, Eurekahedge’s index is up 6.21%. That compares to a 1.8% monthly, and 22.6% year-to-date, increase in the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.33%. A separate report showed marginally better returns. The Barclay Hedge Fund Index rose 0.89% in October and has gained 7.97% for the year.
Ray Dalio, Founder Of World’s Largest Hedge Fund, Declares ‘The World Has Gone Mad And The System Is Broken’ (HuffingtonPost.in)
What does it say about an economic system when some of its wealthiest, most prominent beneficiaries are coming out and declaring that it is a failure? Among the latest on this growing list of disillusioned capitalists is Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world. (Hedge funds are partnerships of investors who pool their money to pursue high-risk, high-reward investments).
