Einhorn’s Greenlight Increases Bet on Elekta Share Drop (Bloomberg)
David Einhorn’s hedge fund Greenlight Capital Inc. increased its bet that shares of Swedish medical-equipment maker Elekta AB will decline. Einhorn sold short 2.35 percent of Elekta’s shares as of Jan. 16, according to data published by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. On Jan. 4, Greenlight’s short position was 1.8 percent, according to the data. Elekta fell 0.5 percent to 99 kronor at 9:26 a.m. in Stockholm. The stock has risen 27 percent in the past year, giving the company, which is based in the Swedish capital, a market value of 38 billion kronor ($5.8 billion).
Steady inflows and performance-based gains increased hedge fund assets by USD60bn in the fourth quarter, bringing total industry capital to a record USD2.25trn, according to the latest HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report. Hedge funds posted performance gains in 4Q12, as global financial markets struggled with the political and macroeconomic uncertainty which had adversely impacted performance throughout much of the year, including the European banking and sovereign debt crisis, and the US fiscal cliff negotiations.
Odey plots UCITS version of flagship European hedge fund strategy (InvestmentWeek)
The launch of the new Dublin-domiciled fund will mark the first time UCITS investors have been able to access a long/short strategy run by Odey himself. First launched in 1992, the $1.8bn Odey European fund returned 24% last year – the sixth best hedge fund return globally, according to Bloomberg data. The fund had a tough 2011, shedding 20%, but the vehicle has produced compound annual gross returns of 13.4% since inception, according to figures from Odey.
Among Asia’s hedge funds, smaller was better last year (Business-Standard)
For those investing into Asia’s hedge funds last year, smaller was better. The region’s largest hedge funds – those managing more than $500 million – delivered weaker returns on average than nimbler, small to medium-sized funds, according to fund research and people with knowledge of the individual funds. In a year when several Asian stock markets rallied, many bigger hedge funds failed to beat benchmark returns. Blue chip funds such as Ortus Capital Management and Senrigan Capital lost money, while high-profile launches Azentus Capital and Dymon Asia ended the year barely in the black, said people familiar with their returns. Smaller hedge funds such as Factorial and the Splendid Asia macro hedge fund, however, made their investors richer.
Fixed-income hedge fund assets emerge on top (PIOnline)
Long/short equity hedge fund strategies lost industry dominance for the first time in 2012. Assets invested in fixed-income hedge funds exceeded those invested in equity strategies as of Nov. 30 for the first time thanks to a four-year growth spurt fueled by institutional investors. Fixed-income/credit hedge funds managed an aggregate $796.9 billion as of Nov. 30 compared with $788.9 billion invested in equity strategies, according to data from eVestment Alliance LLC’s hedge fund database.
Hedge funds disappoint as shares roar on (CityAM)
COSTLY hedge funds failed to keep pace with run of the mill stock funds last year, as equity markets proved more profitable than the best performing hedge strategies on average, data shows. Statistics from the EDHEC Risk Alternatives Index show the most profitable hedge fund strategies for investors trailed US equity market returns by almost three percentage points on average in 2012.
Pacific Group to Convert One-Third of Hedge-Fund Assets to Gold (BusinessWeek)
The Pacific Group Ltd., founded by a former PaineWebber Inc. trader, is converting one-third of its hedge-fund assets into physical gold, betting that prices will go up as governments print more money to pay off debt. The Hong Kong-based asset manager plans to take delivery of $35 million worth of gold bars that can be traded on the London Bullion Market Association and other international markets, William Kaye, its founder and chief investment officer, said in a telephone interview on Jan. 18. It has secured vault space at Hong Kong International Airport to store the gold, he said.
Hedge fund mogul at risk of a short squeeze on Herbalife (TheGlobeAndMail)
Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman had an easy time vanquishing the sclerotic board of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP) last year. He’s now in an even more fascinating bare-knuckles fight, this time with Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), the big U.S. direct marketer of weight loss products. Mr. Ackman claims the company is a pyramid scheme, and is shorting $1-billion (U.S.) worth of its stock. We’re used to seeing larger-than-life market players like Mr. Ackman win against adversaries. It isn’t often that one of them steps on a banana peel, but at Herbalife, we might see a case of a famed hedge fund manager in a rare slip.
IPO cloud as Nine debt clears (HeraldSun)
NINE Entertainment faces some of the fiercest headwinds buffeting any sector as its owners prepare to float the media group, industry experts say. Nine will battle for widespread support among investors despite a sweeping restructure that primes the group for an initial public offering, they say. The warning came as Nine’s hedge fund masters yesterday formally inked a deal with other lenders that frees the group of $3.3 billion debt – a pivotal step towards a float. Under the deal, Nine’s “senior” lenders – Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital – have taken control of Nine.
Bankers, Fund Managers Strip for Sub-Zero Swims in London (BusinessWeek)
It’s a snowy Saturday morning. A group of seven men sporting woolly caps and backpacks gather at the top of Parliament Hill on London’s Hampstead Heath. They’ve been meeting every weekend morning like this for the past two years — never less than two, sometimes as many as 15, and their numbers are growing. Ranging in age from 44 to 57, they head off shortly after 9 a.m., jogging down the southern side of the hill.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP WINS TWO AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY (Melodika)
Ernst & Young LLP, a leading service provider for start-up and established hedge funds, has received the award for Best Audit Services in the 2012 HFMWeek U.S. Hedge Fund Services Awards and was ranked as the top audit and accounting firm in Hedge Funds Review’s 2012 Service Provider Rankings. This is the fourth consecutive year that the firm has been recognized by HFMWeek as the best in the audit/accounting services category and the second time it has been placed at the top of the Hedge Funds Review rankings.
FBR founder’s fund profits from big government (CourierPress)
For many hedge funds, financial rules and state intervention in markets are anathema. Emanuel J. Friedman, former co-chairman of investment bank Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc., sees them as an opportunity. Friedman’s $2.6 billion EJF Debt Opportunities Fund surged 29 percent last year by making bets on how lenders would alter their capital structure after the Dodd-Frank Act, according to investors in the pool. Run from suburban Virginia, five miles west of the U.S. Capitol, it has averaged gains of 21 percent a year since inception in June 2008, compared with the 4.4 percent annual increase posted by other debt-focused hedge funds. His approach comes at a time when some hedge-fund managers, including Third Point’s Daniel Loeb and Moore Capital Management’s Louis Bacon, bemoan political intrusion and complain that Washington is anti-business. Friedman, 66, was on the receiving end of government pressure himself eight years ago, when he left the bank he co-founded amid a probe and subsequent settlement with U.S. regulators over improper trades.
Hedge Fund Manager And CNBC Contributor Releases Novel—We’ve Got A Sneak Peek (BusinessInsider)
“The trading room fell quiet as Vernon Albright stormed across the ?oor, the thick carpet doing little to mute the anger evident in each step. The traders had seen him this way before and feared the worst…” So begins UNHEDGED, the newest book by renowned hedge fund manager Stephen Weiss. Weiss has a storied career on Wall Street, and has been an executive at Salomon Brothers, SAC Capital, and Lehman Brothers while also contributing to CNBC’s Fast Money. He’s written two books before – The Billion Dollar Mistake and The Big Win – but while those were investment books, his latest work is a financial thriller.
A great combo: the multi-manager moving towards a longer game (eFinancialNews)
Asset managers are increasingly combining their funds of hedge funds and funds of long-only funds into a single combined multi-manager business. The move reflects the increasingly blurred line between hedge funds and long-only funds in the single-manager sphere, and the rise of regulated structures such as Ucits that lie somewhere between the two. Axa Investment Managers has just completed combining its long-only multi-manager and its fund of hedge funds businesses under one umbrella.
Soros’ group tells chaplains to boycott prayer (WND)
A “faith” organization that gets money from “Open Society” founder and left-leaning 1 percenter George Soros says it doesn’t want chaplains to participate in a prayer meeting. The organization called Faithful America has launched an online petition discouraging the official chaplains of the U.S. House and the Senate from praying at this weekend’s Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast.
Little-known stocks George Soros loves (TheGlobeAndMail)
A look at the smaller-cap stocks held by billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros. Most are not household names, but they do have interesting and unique business strategies. Charles Lieberman, the founder of Advisors Capital Management, has developed a successful equity-oriented strategy that is geared toward investors at or near retirement and designed to provide generous income. Four leading indicators of major market tops suggest the bull market is on shaky ground. The “January barometer” indicator suggests the first trading week of the year foreshadows what’s to come. Don’t believe it.
Wall Street Legend Jim Rogers Mulls Investing in Bulgaria (Novinite)
Wall Street legend and highly successful international investor, author and commodities expert, Jim Rogers is considering investing in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is among the few countries, in which he is considering investing right now as they have made the most improvement since his latest trip around the world, the billionaire, currently based in Singapore, said in an interview for Gold Radio Café. He joined the broadcast for a brief discussion on his new book, Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets. The Balkans are in terrible conditions, but Bulgaria is a place which is working towards changes, according to Jim Rogers.
Greek eurozone exit still likely despite European leaders resolve, warn economists (Telegraph)
Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr Doom for correctly predicting the 2008 global financial crisis, said commentators had underestimated the resolve of the Greeks and European leaders said the Greek exit from the 17-nation bloc was now a “less likely event this year, although not a zero possibility”. The economist now believes there is a 30pc chance of the debt-laden country leaving the eurozone, but that increases to a 50pc chance of an exit in the next three to five years. “Politics don’t trump everything,” Mr Roubini told Bloomberg. “It’s a factor, but it’s not as if it overrides everything else.”
Speculators Boost Bullish Bets Most Since November (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds raised bullish commodity wagers by the most since November as a jump in U.S. housing starts and the first acceleration in Chinese growth since 2010 drove prices to a three-month high. Speculators increased net-long positions across 18 futures and options by 4.3 percent to 682,521 contracts in the week ended Jan. 15, the biggest gain since Nov. 27, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Wagers on a soybean rally rose for the first time in four weeks on signs of improved demand for supplies from the U.S., the biggest exporter. Gold holdings rebounded from the lowest since August.
Monster Beverage Shares Take a Spill (WSJ)
Shares of Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) tumbled Friday, continuing their rocky ride amid heightened scrutiny of the health impact of energy drinks. The stock’s latest price swing came after three Democratic lawmakers sent letters Thursday to more than a dozen energy drink makers—including Monster, the leading seller in the U.S. by volume—requesting more information on their products and marketing claims. A short position by a hedge fund also could have fueled Friday’s brusque movements, according to Wall Street analysts. Monster shares dropped 4.05%, or $2.02, to close at $47.82 in 4 p.m. trading Friday …
