Editor’s Note: YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:YRCW), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Citadel’s Ken Griffin says derivatives trading safer and more efficient (Opalesque)
Derivatives trading has improved dramatically, becoming safer and more efficient through post-crisis reforms that have shifted power from bank “dealers” to investors, according to Ken Griffin, founder of one of the world’s biggest hedge funds. “The dealers spoke about fire and brimstone, that markets would cease to work, products would become illiquid, costs would go up dramatically, clients would endure adverse consequences,” Mr Griffin, head of Citadel, the Chicago-based hedge fund, told the Financial Times.
Druckenmiller Says Fed Exit Would Be ‘Big Deal’ for Markets (San Francisco Chronicle)
Stanley Druckenmiller, who boasts one of the hedge-fund industry’s best long-term track records of the past three decades, said it would be a “big deal” for financial markets if the Federal Reserve were to completely end its asset purchases as outlined over the next 12 months. “How in the world does anyone think when the actual exit happens that prices are not going to respond?” Druckenmiller said today on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers” with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle, given the selloff in bonds and emerging markets in the past few months on the mere hint that the Fed might taper its purchases.
Ackman Attempts to Frighten Herbalife (HLF) Auditor (StreetInsider.com)
Shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) decline Wednesday, dropping 2% intraday as Bill Ackman stepped up his attacks on the so-called pyramid scheme. A 52-page letter from Ackman to Herbalife’s new auditor, PricewaterhouseCooper, was obtained by the New York Post. The letter appears to be an attempt by the hedge fund manager to raise alarm bells ahead of potential audit approval. Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) hired PricewaterhouseCooper after its previous accountant, KPMG, resign due to an unrelated insider trading scandal.
Tiger Global Readies $1 Billion Long-Only Fund (FINalternatives)
Tiger Global Management, one of the most successful hedge funds in recent years, is doing away with the hedge for its latest fund. The New York-based firm is planning a long-only vehicle to be helmed by founder Chase Coleman and two other portfolio managers, Feroz Dewan and Scott Shleifer. The fund is expected to debut on Oct. 1 with between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in initial assets. Tiger Global has more than $11 billion in assets, even after returning $2 billion to investors late last year.
Mastic Hedge Fund Appoints James O’Brien as Chief Executive (Bloomberg)
Mastic Investment Advisory AG, the Zug, Switzerland-based commodities hedge fund, appointed James O’Brien as chief executive officer and chief risk officer. O’Brien is a former colleague of Mastic Chief Investment Officer Kieran McKenna from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), according to a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg News. O’Brien has since held senior trading roles at Cargill Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Fortis Bank SA, the letter showed. The appointment was confirmed today by a Mastic official who asked not to be identified in line with company policy. McKenna worked as a trader at Goldman from 1997 to 2004 before spells at Deutsche Bank AG, Citadel LLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse Group AG.
Stanley Druckenmiller: Fed Choice Totally Matters to Market (Bloomberg)
