Hedge fund manager orders gold bullion to fill Christmas crackers (ManagementToday)
If you thought the days of corporate excess were over, you’re crackers. According to Hailliday-Stein, whose online bullion company delivers gold bars and coins through the post, a hedge fund manager ‘for a well known City bank’ recently placed a sizeable order – for cracker fillers. The chap explained that he was after ‘something special’ to put in the crackers for the annual Christmas bash for clients.’The one-gram gold bars are about the size of a thumbnail so they are the perfect fit,’ explains Halliday-Stein. The hedge fund man promptly ordered fifty.
Costs on the rise for hedge funds and investors as regulations bite (HedgeFundsReview)
Running a hedge fund is getting more costly and investors may ultimately pay the price in 2013 as managers look to pass on more of their expenses to clients. The rising regulatory burden and investor demands for better risk management and reporting have driven up the cost of doing business for 49% of hedge funds, according to a survey by Ernst & Young. For those managers reporting a rise in operating expenses in 2012, costs were up 15% on average. This is hardly surprising. For one, the increased compliance burden faced by hedge funds is reflected in the rising cost base.
Carl Icahn, MHR Set Sights On Navistar International Corp (NAV) (InsiderMonkey)
In a recent 13D filing with the SEC, Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV)’s largest shareholder, MHR Fund Management increased its stake by 17% to 12 million shares. The recent purchase adds to MHR’s already robust Navistar position. Navistar was MHR’s 4th largest 13F holding at the end of the third quarter, accounting for 9% of the firm’s total 13F assets. Another big name shareholder of Navistar is billionaire investor and famed corporate raider Carl Icahn.
Activist Investor Elliott Increases Stake in Emulex to 11% (Bloomberg)
Elliott Management Corp., the activist investor that pushed Novell Inc. to sell itself in 2010, has amassed more than an 11 percent stake in Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX), a provider of converged networking solutions for data centers. Elliott, the New York-based hedge-fund investor, said in a regulatory filing yesterday it bought an additional 1.34 percent stake in the company through derivative agreements. Elliott reported a 9.96 percent stake in Emulex with a 13D filing Nov. 23, becoming the largest shareholder and gaining an opening to agitate for change at the Costa Mesa, California-based company.
Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Eyes New Loans (WSJ)
Revel, a struggling Atlantic City casino that has been bailed out by investors several times since opening in April, is nearing yet another reprieve. Revel Entertainment LLC, which runs the luxury casino, appears on track to secure loans that would provide around $150 million cash toward operations and investments in the property, people familiar with the matter said. The loan package would be provided by a group of the project’s existing lenders, including hedge funds and money-management firms, these people said.
Jefferson County Lawyer Says Creditors Threaten Talks (Bloomberg)
Jefferson County, Alabama, may break off debt-reduction talks with hedge funds holding more than $700 million in defaulted sewer warrants because of the group’s litigation tactics, the county’s lead bankruptcy lawyers said. Should the hedge funds try to question county commissioners under oath about settlement talks the county is holding with its major creditors, negotiations with the funds will end, attorney Kenneth Klee said in an interview. Yesterday, the hedge funds, who call themselves the ad hoc group of sewer warrant holders, won court permission to depose three commissioners about their efforts to end the county’s bankruptcy.
