How A Big Hedge Fund Ace Lost 95% (Forbes)
One of the biggest hedge fund managers, Bill Ackman, considered to be one of brightest, lost over 95% in one of his largest positions, Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX). He held the stock for about three years during which time the stock plunged from $257 to $11 on March 14, 2017. On March 13, he declared he had sold his entire position in Valeant. When Ackman initially got into the stock, he saw that he had possibly made a big mistake. He had a choice, get out of the VRX or try to fix the company. He did the latter, which turned out to be a big mistake. Yes, even the smartest people make big mistakes.
The Hits Keep Coming For Anthony Scaramucci (DealBreaker)
Unless he can convince President Trump that his ethical encumbrances wouldn’t keep him from serving as a wonderful ambassador to San Marino or Kyrgyzstan or Equitorial Guinea, the Mooch is going to be humiliated, unemployed and facing a massive and unanticipated tax bill. With the sale expected to close in roughly 30 days, that gives the hedge fund executive, affectionately known as The Mooch, roughly 90 days to get a Trump administration job – or face a tax bill possibly millions of dollars higher than expected, sources said. “If he doesn’t get a job, he’ll have lost his business and be subject to tens of millions in taxes,” a source close to the situation said.
Meet The 8 Hedge Fund Managers Who Made The Most Money In 2016 (Business Insider)
It’s no secret that hedge funds have not been doing well. 2016 was an especially rough year for the once mighty kings of Wall Street. High fees and lackluster returns have forced many investors to pull their money out of hedge funds. The $3 trillion industry shrunk by about $70 billion last year, the biggest drop since 2009, according to data tracker HFR. But that doesn’t mean that hedge fund managers, long known to be some of the wealthiest people on Wall Street, are on their way to the poor house. Forbes has just released its list of the highest-earning hedge fund managers and traders of 2016. And it shows that top hedge funders are doing just fine when it comes to their take home pay.
Activist Hedge Fund Critical Of Walt Disney’s Move On Disneyland Paris (Reuters)
An activist hedge fund has criticised plans by Walt Disney to take full control of debt-laden Paris theme park operator Euro Disney, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Paris-based CIAM, which owns 1.4 percent of Euro Disney shares, has written to the board of the French company to object to what it believes are plans by Walt Disney to force out minority shareholders. It said it has the support of more than 5 percent of Euro Disney shareholders, including its holding. “The Walt Disney Company seeks to force out the remaining minority shareholders by offering them a new public offer, under penalty of having to undergo a strong dilution later,” said the letter, dated March 6.
Hedge Fund Sees 30% Gain By Betting Only On Tomorrow, Literally (Bloomberg)
This hedge fund is only looking one day ahead. That delivered a 30 percent return in 2016 for the London-based Runestone Capital Fund, which crunched more than 700 variables to develop a quantitative model for trading U.S. equity index volatility. “We trade with a one-day horizon as predicting volatility long term is completely random,” Rune Madsen, founder and portfolio manager of the $17 million fund, said in an interview on Monday. The absolute return fund, which targets an average annual return of more than 20 percent, is always directional, making bets that one-day volatility will either rise or fall, according to Madsen. The return for 2016 was 30 percent with a maximum loss from peak to trough of 5.2 percent.
