Editor’s Note: Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL), Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund (NYSE:AOD), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG)
Icahn America’s Richest Hedge Fund Manager (FINalternatives)
He may have failed in his bid to block Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s management buyout, but the last 12 months have been very good to Carl Icahn, all the same. Icahn’s net worth soared nearly 40% to $20.3 billion, making him the richest alternative investments honcho in America, according to Forbes magazine. Icahn placed 18th on the annual Forbes 400 ranking of the richest Americans, topped once again by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder Bill Gates, who is worth $72 billion. Icahn displaced last year’s top hedge fund manager, George Soros, who fell to 19th place on the list with $20 billion—a mere $1 billion more than last year.
Paulson Leads Deal Magicians Amid Tight Spreads: Real M&A (Bloomberg)
Amid a bumpy recovery in mergers and acquisitions this year, a handful of hedge-fund managers are finding a way to make money betting on deals. John Paulson, Drew Figdor and Peter Schoenfeld are outperforming funds that seek to profit from corporate mergers — a strategy that has trailed broader hedge-fund returns since the financial crisis. Paulson & Co. posted an 11 percent gain in its merger fund this year through August. Figdor, who runs TIG Advisors LLC’s merger fund, returned 9.6 percent, and P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LP’s fund rose 8.8 percent through July, according to investors who asked not to be named.
Here’s What This $58 Billion Hedge Fund Company Is Buying (DailyFinance)
Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they’ve bought and sold via “13F” filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks. Today let’s look at Citadel Advisors, founded and run by Kenneth Griffin. It’s one of the biggest hedge fund companies around, with a reportable stock portfolio totaling $57.9 billion in value as of June 30, 2013. The biggest new holdings are Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL) and V.F. Other new holdings of interest include the Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund (NYSE:AOD), a closed-end fund. It’s worth looking into it if you’re interested, as it contains roughly 90 companies, including well regarded ones such as International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM).
Novogratz to Burbank See Stocks Surviving First Fed Taper (Businessweek)
Hedge-fund managers from Stanley Druckenmiller to Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG)’s Michael Novogratz and Passport Capital LLC’s John Burbank said U.S. stocks would continue to do well this year even if the Federal Reserve gradually reduces its asset purchases, a move the central bankers resisted today. As long as the Fed prints money by buying assets, stocks won’t enter a bear market, Druckenmiller said. The exit of Lawrence Summers from the race to become Fed chairman has made it more likely that the central bank will continue policies that encourage investors to take risks such as buying equities, he said.
Goldman Launches Asia Hedge Fund (FINalternatives)
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s in-house hedge fund has unveiled a new Asia vehicle. Oryza Capital launched earlier this month, Bloomberg News reports. The new fund is led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners’ Asia co-heads, Hideki Kinuhata and Ryan Thall. Oryza is an opportunistic long/short equity fund, which invests throughout Asia, including Australia and Japan. Kinuhata is based in Tokyo, while Thall works out of Hong Kong—where he’ll pitch the new fund to potential investors at a Morgan Stanley event next month.
The Fed is a highly leveraged hedge fund: Pro (CNBC.com)
ASX Directors Resign After SEC Action Against Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Shane Finemore and Russell Aboud resigned from their positions on the board of ASX Ltd. (ASX) after their hedge fund, Manikay Partners LLC, agreed to settle claims of improperly buying shares of companies they had bet against. Aboud said by telephone today that he spoke to ASX Chairman Rick Holliday Smith informing him he would resign. New York-based Manikay agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle the action. The hedge fund was sanctioned by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of an enforcement against 23 firms, the agency said in a statement Sept. 17. Aboud, a member of the board of the ASX, is chairman of the fund.
SEC Goes After Founder Of Formerly $5 Billion Hedge Fund (Forbes)
The Securities & Exchange Commission charged a founder of New York hedge fund firm Vicis Capital that once managed as much as $5 billion, alleging the 44-year-old money manager breached his fiduciary duty by orchestrating conflicted transactions through the hedge fund that benefited him. Shadron Stastney, the CEO of a publicly-traded company and a founder of Vicis Capital, which oversees $230 million, has agreed to pay more than $2.9 million to settle SEC charges that he authorized the Vicis hedge fund to purchase $7.5 million of illiquid securities that Stastney partly owned.
Bennelong Kardinia fund lowers entry point (Money Management)
The Bennelong Kardinia Capital Absolute Return fund has lowered its initial investment amount for retail investors to $20,000 and moved to provide daily liquidity. The move was confirmed this week by the fund’s portfolio manager, Mark Burgess, who claimed hedge funds with absolute return capabilities were proving increasingly attractive to investors. Burgess said that due to their strong performance, absolute return capabilities were increasingly attracting attention in the Australian market and that since its inception in May 2006, the Bennelong Kardinia Capital Absolute Return Fund had returned 14.11 per cent a yer.
Redemption-Hit Arbalet To Close (FINalternatives)
When Jennifer Fan founded Arbalet Capital at the age of 28, she was a rising star in the hedge fund world. Unfortunately for her and for Arbalet’s investors, she proved a shooting star. Arbalet, which once managed almost $700 million, now has less than $200 million. The proximate cause of the commodity hedge fund’s demise is the exit of several large investors, forcing the hand of other investors wary of or forbidden from holding so large a stake in a hedge fund. Among the redeemers was Schroders NewFinance Capital, which had some $200 million invested with Arbalet, which will close over the next couple of months, according to Reuters.
Fed Leaves Hedge Fund Bears Waiting in Bet on Emerging Markets (Bloomberg)
Ray Bakhramov has been waiting almost two years for his hedge fund’s bet against emerging markets to pay off, which spurred a 20 percent loss in 2012 and cost him clients. Even with a slump from bonds to currencies over the last five months, he’s still waiting. Bakhramov, whose $180 million Forum Global Opportunities Fund posted gains this year after shorting South Korean and Turkish government debt and wagering against mining and steel companies reliant on developing economies, remains in the red on his bearish outlook. He says his best returns will come once central banks unwind their record stimulus, something the U.S. Federal Reserve unexpectedly refrained from doing yesterday.
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Carl Icahn’s Primetime Position On The Fed, Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s ‘No Brainer’ & Bill Ackman
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