Colleague of SAC Leader Was Not Alerted to Trades (New York Times)
The billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen kept one of his closest associates at SAC Capital Advisors in the dark about the hedge fund’s rapid selling of a substantial stock position in two drug companies, just days before the companies reported disappointing results of a clinical trial for an Alzheimer’s drug. Chandler Bocklage, who for nearly a decade sat next to Mr. Cohen and helped the SAC founder make trades in his own multibillion-dollar account at the firm, said he learned about the big trade only after it had happened.
Hedge Fund Care to Honor Marathon Asset Management’s Bruce Richards (HedgeCo.net)
In recognition of his extraordinary dedication to philanthropy, Marathon Asset Management’s Bruce Richards will be presented with the Award for Caring during the 16th Annual New York Open Your Heart to the Children Benefit on Thursday March 6, 2014 from 6pm-10pm at Cipriani 42nd Street in the heart of Manhattan. The gala, the largest gathering that Hedge Funds Care/Help For Children (“HFC”) holds worldwide, will bring together 1,000 hedge fund executives to honor the work of industry luminary and active philanthropy participant, Bruce Richards, and to raise funds to help prevent and treat child abuse in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Carlson Capital, L.P. Boosts Stake in Exterran Holdings, Inc. (EXH) (Insider Monkey)
Carlson Capital, L.P, managed by Clint Carlson, has increased its stake in Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH). The latest filing with the SEC shows that the hedge fund has increased its holding to 4,082,319 shares of the common stock from the 2,950,000 shares as disclosed in the last 13F filing. The stake represents 6.2% of the stake of the company’s common stock and is valued at $140.15 million, at the current share price of Exterran. The holding is passive by nature. Exterran Holdings, Inc provides natural gas compression services. The Company is a provider of operations, maintenance, service and equipment for oil and natural gas production, processing and transportation applications.
Peer-to-peer lender Zopa raises £15m to spread the word (Evening Standard)
Peer-to-peer lender Zopa has raised £15 million for a hedge fund to fuel expansion and raise awareness of the alternative lending industry. London-based Zopa, Europe’s largest peer-to-peer lender, has raised the sum from Arrowgrass Capital Partners, a hedge fund manager spun out of Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) by traders in 2008. Zopa lets savers lend out their money to people looking for a low cost loan. To date £455 million has been lent through the platform, with £180 million of that last year alone.
German Fin Min worried about hedge-fund risks in EU bank plans (Reuters)
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday he was worried that European Commission proposals on isolating hedge fund risks do not go far enough. “I am a bit worried that the Commission’s proposals on the isolation of high-risk trades at hedge funds don’t go as far as our German rules. This is a point we must look at,” Schaeuble told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
Bill Ackman Offers a Short-Selling Lesson (Bloomberg)
One of the timeless lessons of hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman‘s recent adventures with Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), the nutritional-supplements distributor, is that if your reason for shorting a stock is the hope of some sort of future government crackdown, you may not have much of a catalyst. If a company is a pyramid scheme or another kind of scam, it can stay that way for a long time without the government doing anything about it, even if lots of people are begging regulators to act. As long as the scam is profitable, the company will keep making money, which is bad for anyone shorting it.
Will hedge funds prove their worth in 2014? (CNBC)
John Thomas Hedge Fund Manager Sues to Block SEC Hearing (1) (Businessweek)
A Houston hedge-fund manager facing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims that he defrauded investors by steering bloated fees to the John Thomas Financial Inc. brokerage sued to block an agency hearing. George Jarkesy Jr., who according to the complaint could be fined $100 million and barred for life from the securities industry, said if the SEC’s administrative proceeding is allowed to go forward it will violate his rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.
Dow Chemical Resists Spinoff Proposal and Increases Stock Buybacks (New York Times)
The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) on Wednesday appeared to rebuff a proposal by an activist hedge fund manager, as it also announced measures intended to make shareholders happy. The company said it would triple its authorized share buyback program this year, to $4.5 billion from $1.5 billion worth of stock. It also said it would increase its first-quarter dividend by 5 cents, to 37 cents a share. The moves, Dow said, were part of its previously announced strategy. Wall Street was paying particularly close attention to the announcement because of recent moves by Daniel S. Loeb, the hedge fund manager who runs Third Point.
Hedge funds hit by passport rules (Financial News)
Marketing restrictions are a key part of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the controversial legislation aimed at regulating the hedge fund and private equity industries, which was transposed into national laws last July. Managers have a year’s grace to transition to compliance. The legislation affects not only European managers but also those based outside Europe. Jerome Lussan, chief executive of Laven Partners, a consultant and law firm to the alternative investment industry, said: “If you’re going to sell a fund today, you need as much law as you need performance.” Laven has recently set up the Laven Global Fund Distribution Platform to help managers register a fund for local distribution and advise them on marketing strategy.
Canadian Dollar To Sink To 70 Cents, Hedge Fund Manager Says (Huffington Post Canada)
A California hedge fund manager who notoriously went all-in against the Canadian economy last year expects the loonie to fall to 70 cents. Vijai Mohan, head of Hyphen Partners LP, told the Globe and Mail a Canadian dollar worth 70 cents U.S., “if not worse,” is possible within five years. That’s especially the case if the divergence between the U.S. and Canadian economies continues to grow, he said. Though others have called for the loonie to keep falling, Mohan’s forecast may be the most pessimistic. Goldman Sachs is calling for an 88-cent loonie this year.
TPG Capital says it is raising up to $2 billion for bridge fund (CNBC)
TPG Capital LP, a private equity firm that is behind some of the world’s largest leveraged buyouts, said on Wednesday it was asking some of its key investors for up to $2 billion to spend on deals until it raises a new $10 billion flagship fund. Founded in 1992, TPG has been one of the private equity industry’s most successful firms, turning its founders, David Bonderman and James Coulter, into billionaires. But some of its bets went sour in the last six years, weighing on the performance of its funds.
