Editor’s Note: General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP), Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM), Hampden Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNK)
Who Hedge Fund Managers Backed In The NYC Mayoral Primary (HedgeCo.net)
Prominent NYC hedge fund managers came up empty in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary, Absolute Return reported today. Dan Loeb (Third Point), Robert Ziff (Och-Ziff) and Peter McKown (Prince Street) were among those giving big to losing candidate Christine Quinn. George Soros was one of the few to back the Democratic winner Bill de Blasio, while David Tepper (Appaloosa), Carl Icahn and others correctly picked GOP winner Joe Lhota. Huffington Post reports: “The top vote-getter in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, was the most vocally anti-Bloomberg of the major candidates, railing against the mayor’s pro-police, pro-development, pro-business, pro-trickle-down politics. On the Republican side, Joe Lhota, a one-time deputy mayor to Rudolph Giuliani, handily won his party’s nomination after tying himself closely to many of Bloomberg’s policies.”
Paulson’s Advantage Funds beat peers with gains in August (Reuters)
Billionaire investor John Paulson‘s biggest funds are boasting double-digit returns for the year, and his Advantage Funds made money in August when many hedge funds were in the red. The Advantage Fund rose 1.9 percent in August and is now up 10 percent for the year, while the Advantage Plus Fund rose 2.8 percent and is up 14.4 percent, according to two people familiar with the numbers but who are not permitted to speak about them publicly. Both portfolios beat the average return of hedge funds, which slipped 0.73 percent in August, as well as the Standard & Poor’s Index, which fell 3.3 percent.
Ackman cuts stake in mall owner General Growth Properties (KFGO)
Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square Capital Management cut its stake in mall owner General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) to 3.7 percent from 8 percent, the hedge fund said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund was the second biggest shareholder in the company after Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BAM), which had reported a stake of about 39 percent as of August 8. Ackman has been a passive investor in General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) after he failed to secure a buyer for the company.
Some SAC Capital investment staff jumping to rival firm (MSN Money)
Three investment professionals have quit Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, currently fighting criminal insider trading charges, to join a rival hedge fund, two people familiar with the moves said on Friday. Andres Anker, Alexey Chentsov and Santiago Falconi left Cohen’s $14 billion firm to join Israel Englander’s $18 billion Millennium Management. Chentsov and Falconi worked as SAC analysts for 9 years and 7 years, respectively. Anker, a portfolio manager, quit SAC in March 2012. Millennium, like SAC, employs dozens of smaller portfolio teams to buy and sell thousands of securities quickly.
‘Youngest African-American Hedge Fund Founder’ Admits Stealing From Investors (Financial Advisor Magazine)
A 29-year-old investment advisor who described himself as the “youngest African-American hedge fund founder in history” pleaded guilty today to engaging in a wire fraud conspiracy to steal over $1 million from investors. Frederick Douglas Scott, CEO of ACI Capital Group in Manhattan, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and lying to Securities and Exchange Commission officials who were conducting a regulatory examination of his firm. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York says Scott faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the fraud charge and five years’ imprisonment on the false statement charge.
Wise trio on big issues of the day (CNBC.com)
