Loeb’s hedge fund outperforms peers with returns 25.2% returns in 2013 (Venture Capital Post)
Daniel Loeb, the activist investor and hedge fund manager, led rivals in 2013 as his flagship fund gained 25.2%, Reuters reported. With bets made on Greek bonds, blue-chip US stocks and the economic recovery in Japan, Loeb’s $14 billion firm Third Point has been one of the top performers in the industry for past few years now. Citing a client who got a performance update from Loeb on Thursday, the report said the Third Point Offshore fund posted a 2.3% gain in December. The Third Point Ultra fund gained much higher at 3.4% in the same period and ended the year up 37.9%. The Ultra fund is a smaller fund that utilizes borrowed money to increase returns.
Hedge fund chief cashes in with £13.5m ‘bet’ on United’s share price crash under Moyes (Daily Mail)
When the final whistle blew at Old Trafford on New Year’s Day, one guru of high finance would have been cheering Tottenham Hotspur’s victory just as wildly as the travelling support. Multi-millionaire Crispin Odey owns a hedge fund, a type of investment vehicle that seeks out opportunities to make a quick return for clients. And in December, his firm Odey Asset Management made a £13.5million bet that Manchester United’s poor performance would prove more than just a blip. Odey took out a ‘short position’ on Manchester United PLC (NYSE:MANU)’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange, effectively a huge bet on the champions’ decline.
Tiger Seeding Fund Returns 22% (FINalternatives)
Julian Robertson‘s unerring eye for investing talent paid big dividends for investors last year. Tiger Management’s $450 million Accelerator Fund, a two-year-old seeding fund that invests alongside Robertson, was up 22.6% last year through the middle of December. The fund invests in six hedge fund managers. Many of the hedge fund world’s luminaries got their start under Robertson at Tiger, and launched their own funds with his help. Robertson, who closed his hedge fund in 2000, has seeded about 40 so-called “Tiger cubs.”
What Hedge Funds Think About AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) (WallStreetPR)
It is always important for everyday investors to know what their institutional counterparts think about the stocks they are holding. Over the past 12 months AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) witnessed interesting hedge fund trading. AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, was also long in the stock, holding $144.2 million stake, thus constituting 0.5 percent of its stock portfolio. It is important to note that fund managers Adam Weiss and D. E. Shaw through their investment vehicles Scout Capital Management and D E Shaw respectively, are also long in AT&T Inc.
NexPoint Credit Strategies Fund Announces the Regular Monthly Dividend (MarketWatch)
Nexpoint Credit Strategies Fund (NYSE:NHF) (“NHF” or the “Fund”) today announced its regular monthly dividend on its common stock. A dividend of $.050 per share will be payable on the last business day of January to shareholders of record at the close of business January 24, 2014. As of December 31, 2013, the Trust had estimated undistributed net investment income of approximately $8.0 million (unaudited). The Fund is a closed-end fund managed by NexPoint Advisors, L.P. (the “Manager”), an affiliated adviser of Highland Capital Management, L.P. The Fund invests primarily in below investment grade debt and equity and has the ability to hedge risk. The Manager attempts to deliver consistent returns in excess of the Credit Suisse Hedge Fund and the HFRX Global Hedge Fund indices in a transparent, registered fund format with consistent monthly dividends.
Hedge funds’ 2014 playbooks (CNBC.com)
A Few Brave Investors Scored Huge, Market-Beating Wins (Wall Street Journal)
Chris Tuohy, a senior trader in the London office of Tudor Investment Corp., a $14 billion hedge-fund firm, was one of the few to profit from a sharp drop in the price of gold. Early last year, Mr. Tuohy began buying gold “puts,” or options contracts that pay off if an investment falls in price, according to people close to the firm, even as many gold strategists were bullish on the precious metal. As investors began dumping gold-related investments in the spring, Mr. Touhy’s profits piled up. Paul Tudor Jones, Tudor’s founder, also wagered against gold, the people said, though he didn’t make as big a bet as Mr. Tuohy’s.
Hedge Fund Founder Wilson Dies At 87 (FINalternatives)
Hedge fund pioneer Robert Wilson, who has spent the 28 years since his retirement giving away his fortune, died on Dec. 23. He was 87. Wilson leapt from his 16th-floor apartment and was found in an interior courtyard of the San Remo, the prestigious building that he called home. The suicide comes six months after Wilson suffered a stroke. Wilson left a suicide note, his executor, Richard Schneidman, told The New York Times. “The gist of it was that he had had a great life, and done all the things he wanted to, and that they way he chose to die was nothing to be ashamed of and shouldn’t be kept secret.” He ended his final missive with “a list of appointments that would have to canceled,” Schneidman said.
HEDGE FUNDS GAIN MORE THAN US$225 BILLION IN 2013 (Advisor.ca)
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 0.99% in December, bringing yearly returns for 2013 to 8.02%. The MSCI World Index returned 1.67% in December and was up 21.1% for the year 2013. Hedge funds remained in positive territory throughout the year, suffering a setback in June and August of 2013 as uncertainty loomed in the underlying markets following the Fed’s ‘taper scare.’ Overall, hedge fund managers were up 2.53% in the first half and 5.36% in the second half of the year. Most regional mandates ended the year on a positive note, with Japan- and Greater China-focused hedge funds outshining the rest.
Hedge fund adds parks to portfolio (Yorkshire Post)
James Caird Asset Management (JCAM), the hedge fund founded by City trader and racehorse owner Tim Leslie, has acquired business parks in Leeds and Birmingham after agreeing a £43m funding facility with Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS). A spokeswoman for the state-owned bank said the debt facility will enable the business to invest in and refurbish the office parks and provide local employment opportunities in both cities. Lawnswood Business Park is four miles north west of the city centre and close to Leeds Bradford Airport.
Tepper Pay Could Top $3 Billion (FINalternatives)
David Tepper was 2012’s highest-paid hedge fund manager—and it looks like he might be 2013’s, as well. The Appaloosa Management founder may have earned in excess of $3 billion last year, according to the New York Post. That would easily top his $2.2 billion payday in 2012, which put him at the top of Institutional Investor Alpha magazine’s ranking of the top 25 best-paid hedge fund managers.
