Bill Ackman Can’t Possibly Be Expected To Remember All The Great Ideas He’s Ever Had (DealBreaker)
Bill Ackman wants to clear up a few things. First, the activist investor and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management LP is not a fan of “hostile” to describe unsolicited takeover offers. In a recent deposition–part of ongoing litigation over Pershing Square’s and Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX)’s pursuit of Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN)–Mr. Ackman balked at the term when it was posed by an Allergan lawyer.
SEC Names Hedge Fund Specialist To Run It’s National Exam Program (HedgeCo)
Marc Wyatt has been named Deputy Director of the agency’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). Before joining the SEC, Wyatt was a principal and senior portfolio manager at Stark Investments, a global multi-strategy hedge fund. Wyatt served as chief executive of Stark Investments Ltd., responsible for European activities, including asset allocation, risk management, marketing, operations, and legal and compliance. Wyatt joined the SEC in December 2012 as a senior specialized examiner focused on examinations of advisers to hedge funds and private equity funds.
Traders Place Bets Ahead of Brazil Elections (PBR) (VALE) (StreetInsider)
Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE) and other Brazil stocks are on watch ahead of elections Sunday. Incumbent Dilma Rousseff and rival Aécio Neves are practically neck and neck, with conflicting poll data from Sensus and Datafolha/Ibope. Some reports say Rousseff has a slight edge. Earlier this week, hedge fund manager Jim Chanos described Petrobras as a scheme and called both stocks two of his favorite shorts. Since then shares have been pressured, but pared loses Friday.
Agrium Rises After ValueAct Capital Amasses 5.7% Stake (Bloomberg)
Agrium Inc. (NYSE:AGU), the farm retailer that last year fended off an activist shareholder, rose the most in more than five years after it disclosed investor ValueAct Capital Management LLC amassed an active 5.7 percent stake. ValueAct holds 8.19 million shares of Canadian company Agrium, the San Francisco-based firm run by Jeffrey Ubben said today in a regulatory filing. Agrium and ValueAct have been in talks for months and the firm hasn’t made any demands for a spinoff of its retail business, Richard Downey, a spokesman for Calgary-based Agrium, said today by phone.
Ex-Black River oil trader launches Zafiro commodities hedge fund (Reuters)
An energy trader with more than 20 years experience in the industry is set to launch a new Geneva-based, oil-focused commodities hedge fund, entering the market as many money managers have been hit by a sharp drop in prices. Stephen Smethurst, who managed oil trading for the $600 million Black River Commodity Trading Fund, is set to launch the Zafiro Capital Commodities Trading Fund at the start of next month.
Hedge fund ‘Rocktoberfest’ (CNBC)
Ex-Jabre Capital Manager Said to Start Hedge-Fund Firm (BusinessWeek)
Ziad Tabet, a former money manager at Philippe Jabre’s hedge fund, will start a firm in London next year, according to three people with knowledge of his plans. Amakor Capital Management LLP will deploy an event-driven strategy, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Tabet’s plans are private. Tabet, who worked for Jabre Capital Partners SA since 2007, registered the name with Companies House in the U.K. in late August, and plans to start the firm in the first quarter.
Goldman’s Hedge Fund Selector Highlights ‘Extremely Difficult’ Period (WSJ)
It’s been a tough month for the $2.8 trillion hedge fund industry. Markets turmoil last week, which saw stock markets and Treasury yields slump, has left many funds nursing painful losses. As a sector, only computer-driven portfolios that latch onto market trends look to have benefited. “Better performance came from some of the trend-followers,” said Kent Clark, head of hedge fund selection at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “For pretty much everyone else it’s been extremely difficult.”
Rajaratnam Agrees To Pay $840 Thousand To Settle Hedge Fund Insider Trading Case (HedgeCo)
Former hedge fund manager Rengan Rajaratnam has agreed to pay more than $840,000 and accept securities industry bars in order to settle the agency’s insider trading case against him. The SEC filed civil charges in March 2013 against Rengan Rajaratnam for his role in the widespread insider trading scheme conducted by his brother Raj Rajaratnam and hedge fund advisory firm Galleon Management. The insider trading occurred in securities of more than 15 companies for illicit gains totaling nearly $100 million…
Altisource Asset Management Corp (AAMC): Luxor Capital Keeps Its Buying Spree Amid the Stock Losing Ground (InsiderMonkey)
Christian Leone‘s Luxor Capital Group keeps raising its exposure to Altisource Asset Management Corp (NYSEMKT:AAMC) as recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show. Luxor has purchased around 30,800 shares over the last couple of days, at an average price of around $589 per unit. The stake held by Luxor currently amasses 512,480 shares of the company, which represent 17.5% of the company. The position also includes 120,000 shares held as preferred stock.
The U.S. hedge fund manager backing a major newspaper merger (TheStar)
Amid a business presentation heavy on numbers, Steven Shapiro slipped in this tidbit about what made a struggling U.K. bank an attractive investment to a hedge fund that specializes in distressed assets. “And then it emerged that the bank’s chairman, an ordained minister, was caught buying drugs, earning him the nickname the ‘Crystal Methodist’,” Shapiro told the Capitalize for Kids Sohn Investors Conference in Toronto on Friday.
Recommended Reading:
Lone Pine Capital 2014 Q3 Investor Letter
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) Added to SAB Capital’s Equity Portfolio
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD): Andreas Halvorsen Ups Stake While Other Investors Sell Oil Stocks
