Context Capital Entering Mutual-Fund Arena (HFAlert)
Look for hedge fund seeder Context Capital to launch a multi-manager vehicle in the form of a mutual fund. The Bala Cynwyd, Pa., firm, through a newly created business called Context Asset Management, filed registration documents with the SEC last week for Context Alternative Strategies Fund. The vehicle will deploy the bulk of its capital to outside managers including Del Mar Asset Management, ESM Management, First Principles Capital, Highland Capital and Weatherbie Capital, but it reserves the right to directly manage up to 35% of its assets in securities portfolios.
On Position Sizing in Equity Long-Short Hedge Funds (IStockAnalyst)
This article is prompted by the following article by John Hempton of Bronte Capital. This is not meant as a criticism of him; I have nothing but respect for him. The article triggered memories of my own experiences with position sizing at a hedge fund. The hedge fund I once worked for had great expertise with financial companies, and I worked for them in the boom years of the 2000s. Our leader was bearish on depositary financials, a view that would eventually be right. Of course “eventually right” is another way to say “wrong in the short run.” Let me describe the problem from another angle. When I was a corporate bond manager, I would mentally set three levels with the bonds that I held.
UBM facing hedge fund play as Levin and Carter depart (Conference-News)
Leading events and publishing company UBM has been targeted by a Mayfair hedge fund in a move that could lead to its break-up. Investment group Hengistbury has amassed a 5.2 per cent stake in the global organiser, according to a report in the The Sunday Times newspaper, making it the second-largest investor in the £1.7bn business. UBM recently confirmed Chief Executive David Levin is to bring forward his departure date in order to join McGraw-Hill Education in the US in March.
Marc Faber Returns To His Normal Refrain Of Owning Physical Gold (NewslEdge)
With the emerging market crisis expanding outward, the doom and gloom has returned to the market. That means Marc Faber is back with a wide-ranging interview with Barron’s. If you think he has changed his tune on the economy, well think again. He’s just as pessimistic as before, and judging by equity reaction to the Turkish central bank, that action had about a 12-hour round trip. What does Marc Faber recommend for the common investor? Gold. The physical kind. Faber doesn’t place much faith in paper assets, and thinks it’s a good insurance policy. Responding to a question, he said that most people have not seen a benefit from rising stock prices. He used a Gallup poll in which 52% responded positively that they have seen a benefit to the rising stock prices.
Hedge Fund Wants to See Just How Much Everyone Dislikes JPMorgan (Bloomberg)
A rough theory you could have of the mortgage-backed securities problem goes like so: Banks packaged and sold a lot of mortgages to a lot of people. …I always enjoy good maneuvering-by-tender-offer and I think this qualifies. Fir Tree has launched a tender offer for about $300 million or so worth1 of bonds from a handful of the 330 JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) residential mortgage backed securities trusts that are part of a $4.5 billion settlement that JPMorgan reached with 21 institutional investors a while back
Nouriel Roubini is worried about asset bubbles, China; he’s bullish on Japan (MarketWatch)
For the most fragile emerging markets, things could get worse for their equity investors before they get better, economist Nouriel Roubini said Wednesday. Roubini also said European equities could do better than U.S. stocks, predicting 2014 gains of 15%. Japanese will fare even better, advancing 15% to 20%, he said.
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