Managers should ask themselves: what would Carl Icahn see? (FT)
Carl Icahn makes more money between sips on his outsized Martinis than most mortals make in a lifetime. Last week, the activist investor earned roughly $175m on a three-month-old stake in American discount chain Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO). Another investor, Nelson Peltz and his Trian fund, had been doing the heavy lifting for four years, pressing Family Dollar into a sale. But Mr Icahn’s arrival seems to have been a US Cavalry moment, precipitating the acquisition by Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR).
Elliott Sold Additional Hong Kong Bank Shares At Cost (Finalternatives)
Elliott Management didn’t make any money on its effort to squeeze more from its Wing Hang Bank shares, but it didn’t lose any, either. The activist hedge fund sold its stake in the Hong Kong bank for HK$3 billion (US$390 million), or HK$125 per share, tendering it to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., which bought Wing Hang for US$5 billion. OCBC was offering HK$125 for each share—exactly what Elliott paid to boost its stake by more than half in an effort to force OCBC to pay more for Wing Hang.
Botox Company Sues Hedge Fund Founder Ackman For Insider Trading (HedgeCo)
Bill Ackman, hedge fund founder and activist investor, has responded to the lawsuit filed on the 1st of August by Botox-producer Allgeran: “This is a shameless attempt by Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) to delay the shareholders’ fundamental right to call a special meeting and vote their shares. Allergan is threatened by our progress toward calling the special meeting. This scorched-earth approach is further evidence of the board’s and management’s further entrenchment.” Allergan on Friday filed suit against Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), Bill Ackman and the Ackman-owned hedge fund, Pershing Square, alleging they used inside information to try and make a profit at the expense of Allergan shareholders.
Cantor Eyeing Hedge Fund, Private Equity Future (Finalternatives)
Former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor resigned from Congress last week, ostensibly to give the man who defeated him in a June primary “a voice in what will be a very consequential lame-duck session.” But he may have had less altruistic reasons for quitting. Politico reports that the Virginia Republican’s exit before the end of his term will not only give his presumptive successor, economics professor David Brat, a head start, but will give Cantor himself a head-start on the one-year period during which he is barred from lobbying and—perhaps more importantly—will relieve him of the obligation to report with whom he is talking about his future.
Hedge Fund Launch: The Rothschild Larch Lane Alternatives Fund (HedgeCo)
Rothschild Larch Lane Management Company is launching a liquid, open end alternatives mutual fund, using a multi-manager structure, offering diversification across a variety of asset classes, time frames, investment styles and strategies. Larch Lane is a pioneer in early stage hedge fund investing, hedge fund seeding, and is a well-known fund of hedge funds investor in the US. Rothschild brings complementary global research of liquid hedge fund managers and distribution.
How Individual Investors Can Invest Like a Hedge Fund (WSJ)
Everyone wants to be a hedge-fund manager these days, it seems. Or at least they want to invest like one. Now, individual investors have more opportunities to get in on the action. Hedge funds, private partnerships that bet both on and against various investments, manage more money than ever, and interest in them remains strong. Over the past 15 years, their returns have beaten the overall stock market, helping drive the boom. Hedge funds also navigated the 2008 downturn with smaller losses than stock mutual funds, and tend to attract the best and brightest from Wall Street, largely because they pay top salaries.
AutoNation CEO: Obama still doesn’t get it (CNBC)
Ontario pension tsar’s harsh hedge fund lesson (FT)
When Ron Mock became president and chief executive of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in January – one of the world’s largest pension funds – his appointment raised more than a few eyebrows. Not just because Mr Mock, who is a 13-year veteran of the $140.8bn Canadian pension scheme, has a background in the somewhat controversial area of hedge funds, but because the hedge fund company he once presided over collapsed in 2000 with losses of more than $125m.
Hedge Funds Run by Women Outperform Those Run by Men (TheAtlantic)
This morning, the Wall Street Journal reported on funds that choose to tie their fates to the performance of companies led by women. Barclays’ Women in Leadership Total Return Index, which consists of American companies with a female CEO or whose proportion of female board members is at least 25 percent, is one of number of new funds that aims to capitalize on the finding that companies with female leaders tend to outperform those where women are relatively absent. (Amusingly and depressingly, even if Barclays were based in the U.S., it wouldn’t qualify for its own fund, due to its lack of female leaders.)
Astenbeck Nears 20% Returns (Finalternatives)
Astenbeck Capital Management started 2014 off on the wrong foot, but those winter losses are a distant memory after its fifth-straight up month. The oil hedge fund, led by former Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) star trader Andrew Hall, rose nearly 20% in the first half, it told investors. The firm, which has lost money in two out of the last three years, including last year, credited “improved marketing and trading” activity for the turnaround. Astenbeck, which has $3.4 billion in assets under management, is up 19.1% through June.
Marcato Capital Adds to Pressure on InterContinental Hotels to Sell Itself (NYTimes)
The hedge fund Marcato Capital Management said on Monday that it had hired the investment bank Houlihan Lokey as a financial adviser, as it seeks to put more pressure on InterContinental Hotels Group to sell itself. InterContinental, the British owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, would possibly be an attractive target for an American hotel operator seeking to engage in a so-called inversion, where the company reincorporates overseas to avoid higher corporate taxes in the United States and free up money trapped in foreign entities.
Evercore acquires ISI, remaining 40% of its equities business (PIOnline)
Evercore Partners agreed to acquire International Strategy and Investment Group, a research and trading business. In an SEC filing Monday, Evercore said it would also acquire the 40% of its own institutional equity business it currently does not own from hedge fund manager River Birch Capital Partners and several employees of Evercore’s institutional equity business. Evercore said it will issue 8 million shares, with as much as 70% of the payout tied to five-year performance targets, which would value the deal at about $440 million.
Hedge funds eye a profit from European bank research retreat (Reuters)
As Europe’s big investment banks and brokerages scale back their research efforts, particularly towards small and mid-sized companies, some hedge funds and other specialist players spy an opportunity. If the major players aren’t ferreting out investment ideas among Europe’s thousands of non blue-chip companies, figuring the effort is too costly and time-consuming at a time of cutbacks and rationalisation, other participants see a chance to capitalise on the resultant gap in the market.
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