How Warren Buffett’s Uphill Battle Against the S&P 500 is Changing (CNBC)
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made some big purchases in 2020, but the biggest Buffett buy speaks to the big challenge the company will continue to face: there was nothing it could find at a better price than its own shares. Berkshire bought back more than $18 billion in its own shares last year, through October, almost twice as much as Buffett spent on his next biggest acquisition, the $10 billion natural gas assets transaction with Dominion Energy, which including the debt acquired, was the largest acquisition since 2016. Taken at his word – which he has earned — that he won’t do a share repurchase just to prop up the stock, the big buyback was a signal from Buffett that he thinks the stock is undervalued.
Hedge Fund Founder in Dubai Won’t Fight Extradition in Danish Tax Case (Bloomberg)
Sanjay Shah, a hedge-fund manager charged by Danish prosecutors in a $1.6 billion tax-fraud probe, won’t fight extradition from his home in Dubai. The U.K. citizen “would rather go to Denmark than be a fugitive,” according to his spokesman, Jack Irvine. “He would go at the beginning of any trial they have.”
$138 Billion Megafund AQR Shares a Step-by-Step Guide for Investors Who Want to Reduce their Portfolios’ Carbon Footprints – and Explains Why This Move could Propel Returns in the Long Run (Business Insider)
Investors and money managers can use their dollars to reduce carbon emissions, but they need to consider solutions outside of avoiding big polluters’ stocks, according to AQR. Chris Palazzolo, Lukasz Pomorski, and Alice Zhao write that this approach can improve returns and environmental impact as well. AQR manages $138 billion in assets, with more than $20 billion dedicated to environmentally conscious investing.
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D.E. Shaw’s Largest Hedge Fund Gains Nearly 20 pct in 2020 (Reuters)
BOSTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – D.E. Shaw’s largest hedge fund gained 19.4% after fees last year, almost doubling its returns from the previous year during a period of wild and unexpected business conditions. Gains were fueled mainly by systematic and discretionary strategies, said a person familiar with the returns but not authorized to discuss them publicly. The broader stock market index S&P 500 gained 16% last year.
Ovata, Hedge Fund Set Up by former BlueCrest Traders, Posts Best-Ever Annual Returns (Financial News)
Ovata Capital, the multi-strategy hedge fund set up by former BlueCrest traders, posted its best-ever annual performance since its inception in 2017. The firm returned over 18% net of fees with all business units contributing to the fund’s gains, partner Rodrigo Rodriguez told Financial News in an interview. Rodrigo spent more than six years as an event-driven portfolio manager at BlueCrest. In 2019, Ovata’s returns were flat as the business underwent a period of consolidation following large inflows. Ovata is focussed on five strategies: global event, long/short, relative value, index arbitrage and ECM and is therefore…
Financials’ Fortitude: EJF Capital Eyes Rotation Trade as Banks and Insurers Weather Covid Storm (Hedge Week)
Founded in 2005, EJF Capital focuses on investment opportunities in financial services, targeting all levels of the capital structure on both a long-only and long/short basis. Specifically, the firm’s strategy seeks out ideas stemming from regulatory and structural changes impacting the banking sector, insurance companies and specialty finance. Headquartered just outside of Washington DC, the firm was founded by Manny Friedman and Neal Wilson in 2005. In 2013, it established a European base in London, led by Hammad Khan and Peter Stage, EJF’s senior managing directors in Europe. Lucas Netter, a director also focused on portfolio management, joined in 2014.
Legal Finance Firms Look to Big Law, Hedge Fund for New Leaders (Reuters)
Two legal funding firms started off the new year with senior hires, drafting leaders with years of investment or law firm experience. Delta Capital Partners Management LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm specializing in litigation finance, brought on ex-Clifford Chance leader Peter Cornell as its president. Contingency Capital, a legal finance firm founded a few months ago, said that it hired Jeff Cohen, a partner and managing director at Southpaw Asset Management, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund.
Friday 1/8 Insider Buying Report: AAIC, AUB (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, Arlington Asset Investment’s CEO, J. Rock Tonkel Jr., made a $77,170 purchase of AAIC, buying 20,000 shares at a cost of $3.86 each. Tonkel Jr. was up about 5.1% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with AAIC trading as high as $4.06 at last check today. Arlington Asset Investment is trading up about 1.1% on the day Friday. And on Tuesday, Frank Russell Ellett bought $32,822 worth of Atlantic Union Bankshares, buying 1,000 shares at a cost of $32.82 a piece. Before this latest buy, Ellett purchased AUB at 2 other times during the past year, for a total cost of $194,694 at an average of $32.45 per share. Atlantic Union Bankshares is trading off about 1.3% on the day Friday. So far Ellett is in the green, up about 13.2% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $37.15.
Pinterest Inc (PINS) Chairman, President, CEO, Co-F Benjamin Silbermann Sold $21.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Chairman, President, CEO, Co-F of Pinterest Inc, Benjamin Silbermann, sold 315,000 shares of PINS on 01/07/2021 at an average price of $68.5 a share. The total sale was $21.6 million. Pinterest Inc has a market cap of $44.12 billion; its shares were traded at around $71.380000 with and P/S ratio of 30.12. GuruFocus has detected 1 severe warning sign with Pinterest Inc.
The Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Orocobre (Other OTC: OROCF) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Orocobre (OROCF), Richard Phillip Seville, sold shares of OROCF for $939.1K. Following Richard Phillip Seville’s last OROCF Sell transaction on March 04, 2020, the stock climbed by 2.2%. Currently, Orocobre has an average volume of 68.88K. The company has a one-year high of $4.06 and a one-year low of $1.01.
SEC Issues Over $1.1 Million to Multiple Whistleblowers (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced awards totaling more than $1.1 million to five whistleblowers who provided high-quality information that led to successful enforcement actions. In the first order, the SEC awarded three whistleblowers almost $500,000 in connection with two related enforcement actions. The first whistleblower provided information that prompted the opening of an investigation. The second and third whistleblowers provided information that significantly contributed to the success of the actions, and contributed additional, helpful assistance to the investigative staff.
Bandwidth Inc (BAND) Chairman & CEO David A. Morken Sold $20 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Chairman & CEO of Bandwidth Inc, David A. Morken, sold 131,391 shares of BAND on 01/07/2021 at an average price of $152.41 a share. The total sale was $20 million. Bandwidth Inc provides a cloud-based communications platform for enterprises in the United States. It offers solutions including software application programming interfaces for voice and text functionality.
