Grifphon Asset and Sasquatch Capital Investigated for Fraud (FINAlternatives)
Frustrated by promises of payments—but no actual checks—investors in two Oregon hedge funds have expanded the scope of their litigation. Clients of Grifphon Asset Management and Sasquatch Capital, under investigation by Oregon authorities for possible fraud, have sued the funds’ accountants, alleging that Fred Williams and Hoang Nguyen prepared accountant statements rife with overvaluations.
Ex-Stripper’s Hedge Fund Up 160% (BusinessInsider)
Niki Marx, a former stripper at a Manhattan gentlemen’s club, switched career tracks and is now a hedge fund manager. Her hedge fund, which she opened earlier this year thanks to the money she earned pole dancing, is called Marx NY Capital LLC.
Blackstone Group Acquires €8 Million Harbourmaster Capital (FINAlternatives)
The Blackstone Group has acquired an €8 billion European leveraged loan hedge fund. Blackstone’s GSO Capital Partners unit will merge its own European platform with that of Dublin-based Harbourmaster Capital, Blackstone said today. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, makes GSO one of the largest leveraged loan investors in Europe with €11.5 billion in assets. The newly-combined unit will continue to manage Harbourmaster’s funds as well as develop new Europe-focused funds.
UCITS Hedge Fund Tops 1,000 (FinancialNews)
The number of alternative Ucits funds has reached over 1,000, with 65% of them launching since the 2008 financial crisis, illustrating the growing convergence between hedge funds and long-only managers, reveals a new survey.
BNP to Invest Over $200 Million in Asia-Focused Hedge Funds (Reuters)
French bank BNP Paribas’ fund management subsidiary THEAM plans to quadruple its investment in Asia-focused hedge funds to 200 million euros ($268 million) over the next year to tap the region’s strong growth, a senior THEAM executive said.
Picard Leaves Lyxor (FINAlternatives)
After just a year on the job, Robert Picard is out as Lyxor Asset Management’s point man on managed accounts.
Unidentified Hedge Fund Buys Minor League Baseball Team (FINAlternatives)
A New York hedge fund manager has bought one of the city’s two minor-league baseball teams. The unidentified hedgie, who succeeded where Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn failed with the Major League New York Mets, led a group of four financial professionals in buying the Staten Island Yankees, a short-season affiliate of the New York Yankees. The deal closed on Friday; all that is known about the group, other than their financial ties, is the name of their holding company, Connecticut-based Nostalgic Partners.
Investor Quits Wisdom Tree (FINAlternatives)
Hedge fund legend Michael Steinhardt’s WisdomTree Investments saw its stock price fall by a quarter after one of its biggest investors pulled out of its funds.
Sandler Capital Closed to New Investments (FINAlternatives)
After more than tripling its assets under management over the past year-and-a-half, Sandler Capital Management is taking a breather. The New York-based alternative investments firm has closed its long/short hedge funds to new investment for at least six months. The strategy has grown by more than 200%, including leverage, HFMWeek reports, with the fund and its levered version now managing $2.6 billion. Strong performance and investor inflows are behind the big jump in assets.
