Ray Dalio — founder of world’s largest hedge fund — talks ego, his philosophies at work (CBS News)
In 1975, Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates in his New York apartment. Now, it’s the world’s largest hedge fund, managing $150 billion. He reportedly took home nearly $4 billion in a single year. Dalio also has a philosophical take on the world. Last fall, he released a video on YouTube, explaining how he thinks the economy works. He said of the video, “It’s in 30 minutes a description of how I believe the economic machine works, in other words I believe the economy works like a machine. I believe most things work like a machine. I’m a market participant. I’m a global macro economic investor. And so it’s from — I think, a very practical perspective.”
Talmer Bancorp prices IPO at between $12.50 to $14.50 per share (Reuters)
Talmer Bancorp Inc, backed by billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, priced its initial public offering of common shares at between $12.50 and $14.50 per share, valuing the company at up to $1 billion. The offering of 15.6 million shares would raise up to $226 million. Ross, who also serves on the board of Talmer, has a stake of more than 24 percent in the bank holding company through WL Ross & Co., Manulife Asset Management (US) LLC and David Einhorn‘s hedge fund Greenlight Capital Inc are the other notable shareholders with a stake of more than 5 percent each in the company.
Indiegogo: Become Your Own Hedgefund with the Behavior Oriented Trading Robot (h+ Magazine)
Have you heard about Renaissance Technologies? They, along with other similar companies hire scientists, physicists, mathematicians, as well as computer scientists to work with proprietary and specialized algorithms.These algorithms are used to determine when to enter and exit markets, how much to invest in specific instruments, and more. The success of sophisticated traders is based on the use of science and technology, but, so far, the only way to obtain those kinds of tools was to work for a hedge fund yourself or to invest your own money into hiring services from a company like Renaissance. These services are of course very expensive.
Legg Mason Posts Profit of $81.7 Million in Fiscal Third Quarter (Bloomberg)
Legg Mason Inc (NYSE:LM), the money manager that has struggled with more than five years of net redemptions, posted a fiscal third-quarter profit after a loss a year earlier, as assets and fees tied to performance rose. Net income was $81.7 million, or 67 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $453.9 million, or $3.45 a share, a year earlier, the Baltimore-based firm said today in a statement. Joseph A. Sullivan, who was named chief executive officer in February, has reorganized businesses to cut costs while vowing to stem withdrawals by focusing on Legg Mason’s product lineup and improving performance.
Hedge fund pair sail into the limelight (Irish Times)
Kinsale Capital Management, the Dublin hedge fund manager run by the low-key, high-powered former Merrill Lynch bankers Gearoid Doyle and Seán Ó’Flannagáin, is basking in a warm glow after collecting a prestigious gong. One of its funds, the Kinsale Compass Fund, has won the Global Equity Fund of the Year award at the EuroHedge awards. Its not exactly the Oscars, but for European hedge funds, it’s not far off it. The awards were doled out recently at a bash at London’s Grosvenor House hotel. Not too shabby.
Boosting defenses against activists (CNBC)
Exclusive: TI Automotive owners hire Blackstone to weigh IPO, sale – sources (Reuters)
Hedge fund owners of TI Automotive have hired the advisory arm of The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) to evaluate a range of options for the auto parts maker, including an initial public offering or a sale to private equity, according to people familiar with the matter. TI Automotive’s owners enlisted Blackstone Advisory in recent weeks to weigh competing buyout offers from Bain Capital LLC and Pamplona Capital Management LLP, and compare any deal against the merits of going public, the people said.
Hedge-Fund Canosa Said Poised to Surpass $1 Billion in Assets (Bloomberg)
Canosa Capital LLP, the global macro hedge-fund manager created by two former Rubicon Fund Management LLP executives, is poised to triple assets under management to $1 billion within its first year, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Inflows at the London-based firm that started in May are coming from institutional and wealthy investors in Europe and the U.S., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. Canosa, founded by Tim Attias, 48, and Santiago Alarco, 50, with backing from Stockholm-based hedge fund manager Brummer & Partners, began with $272 million in assets, with Brummer supplying about $250 million of that.
Hedge Fund Launch: Humanitarianism Through Capitalism (HedgeCo.net)
Food Fund Advisors is rolling out of the U.S. Food Fund, LLC, a hedge fund with the investment goal of “Humanitarianism Through Capitalism”. The USFF has multiple main purposes, as stated in its investment goal of “Humanitarianism Through Capitalism®”. The first purpose is humanitarian aid and is designed to help create an international network of food, water, shelter and power reserves, while reducing cost and improving efficiency of the support network. Other purposes include disaster response and insurance pooling.
Elliott makes 13 percent profit on Celesio deal: analyst (Hedgeworld)
Hedge fund Elliott International has made a return of about 13 percent on the bonds and shares it bought in Celesio, the German drug distributor being taken over by U.S rival McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), according to estimates by an analyst at Market Securities. After a fierce standoff, Elliott last week called an end to its fight with McKesson over Celesio. Though McKesson hiked its offer price for Celesio shares by just 2.1 percent and Elliott bought most of its stake at or above the original offer price of €23 a share, the hedge fund made the bulk of its profit from selling the convertible bonds, a person familiar with the transaction said.
Hedge fund composite performance was positive in 2013 – Citi Prime Finance (Opalesque)
According to the latest data from Citi Prime Finance, composite hedge fund performance, equal-weighted across funds, was up in December 2013 with performance ranging from +0.56% to +1.1%. Returns were on par previous month which experienced +0.55% to +1.05% over the same period. YTD hedge fund indices saw positive performance ranging from +6.7% to +9.6% compared to +4.4% to +6.7% for 2012. In terms of top performing strategies, Equity Long/Short performed the best at +1.67%, Distressed +1.34%, Multi Strategy +1.22%, Global Macro at +1.16%. The lowest performing strategies include Dedicated Short -1.33%, Equity Market Neutral +0.65%, Fixed Income Arbitrage at +0.71%.
