Hedge Fund Managers Share Rich List Crown After Tricky Year for Brevan (The Wall Street Journal)
Things are changing atop the ranks of the richest hedge fund mangers. Alan Howard, the founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP, now has to share his crown at the top of the rankings of hedge fund managers in the 2015 Sunday Times Rich List for Britain after a tricky year for his firm. The secretive billionaire saw his wealth drop £100 million ($150.5 million) to £1.5 billion, according to the list, after a year in which his flagship macro hedge fund posted its first-ever calendar year loss and the firm’s commodities fund was shut down.
Saba Rebounds in April After Posting Worst Month Ever in March (Bloomberg)
Boaz Weinstein’s credit hedge fund rebounded 7.3 percent in April after posting its worst month ever in March, according to two people briefed on the returns. The gains, helped by a surge in Hong Kong equity volatility, reversed a loss of 6.3 percent in March for Weinstein’s Saba Capital Partners fund, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The fund, which was down 7.9 percent in the first three months of the year, has since pared its 2015 loss to 1 percent.
Family Office of Google’s Eric Schmidt Buys Stake in Hedge Fund D.E. Shaw (The New York Times)
The family office for the Google chairman Eric E. Schmidt has purchased a large stake in the $36 billion hedge fund, D. E. Shaw. The 20 percent stake is one of the last vestiges of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers, a prime asset that the estate had been shopping around for more than a year. Hillspire, the family office that serves as an investment vehicle for Mr. Schmidt, bought the stake for an undisclosed price. “I’ve always regarded Eric as a kindred spirit — someone who shares our belief in the power of groundbreaking innovation, analytical rigor, and extraordinarily gifted employees,” David E. Shaw, the founder of D. E. Shaw, said in a statement.
Hedge Fund Billionaires Double as Platt Catches Up to Howard (Bloomberg)
Seven U.K. hedge fund managers are now worth more than 1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion), up from four executives last year, an annual wealth ranking compiled by the Sunday Times showed. Alan Howard and Michael Platt, co-founders of Brevan Howard Asset Management and BlueCrest Capital Management respectively, led the hedge fund section of the Sunday Times Rich List 2015 with fortunes of 1.5 billion pounds each. Platt, whose wealth was unchanged from last year, caught up with Howard, whose fortune shrank 100 million pounds after topping the 2014 list.
Milken Time: Wall Street Jets West For ‘Davos With Palm Trees’ (CNBC)
If Wall Street’s masters of the universe can make it to the Swiss Alps, they’re definitely going to Los Angeles. The financial community will once again figure prominently at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference next week—sometimes called “Davos with palm trees”—just like they did at the World Economic Forum in January. Major macroeconomic thinkers will be in the mix too, including Mohamed El-Erian (Allianz) and Nouriel Roubini (NYU). That’s not to mention hedge fund heavyweights Ken Griffin (Citadel), Alan Howard (Brevan Howard), Steve Cohen (Point72) and Boone Pickens (BP Capital).
JPMorgan Credit-Swaps Trader Shukhman Said Leaving for Aesir (Bloomberg)
Roman Shukhman, who traded credit derivatives at JPMorgan Chase & Co. through two debt booms and the 2008 financial crisis, is leaving the bank to join hedge fund Aesir Capital Management, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Shukhman, 36, joined JPMorgan in 2001 as the bank pioneered a credit-default swaps market that would expand to $62 trillion of outstanding contracts before the crisis. He traded indexes that allow hedge funds, banks and other investment firms to wager on the creditworthiness of North American companies.
Canon Says Owns 84 pct of Axis, Won’t Raise Offer (Reuters)
Canon Inc said on Friday it owned 84 percent of the shares in Swedish video-surveillance firm Axis AB, and said it was extending the period for other shareholders to accept but would not raise its offer price of 340 Swedish crowns per share. The Japanese camera maker is aiming to take full control of Axis in its 23.6 billion Swedish crowns ($2.73 billion) takeover, but hedge fund Elliott Management has complicated the bid after it raised its stake in Axis to 10 percent.
Firm of Clinton Son-in-Law Said to Consider Currency Fund (Bloomberg)
Eaglevale Partners, the hedge fund firm co-founded by the son-in-law of Bill and Hillary Clinton, is considering raising a dedicated foreign exchange fund after successful currency bets in its main investment vehicle, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The firm, which is based in New York and counts Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein among its clients, has invested in foreign exchange out of its roughly $400 million global macro fund since 2012.
