David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Misses August Rally (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
David Einhorn‘s New York-based hedge fund firm Greenlight Capital missed August’s market move altogether. The firm’s three main funds gained between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent for the month. This compares with a 3.8 percent jump in the S&P 500, the closely-followed index’s best August performance in 14 years. Greenlight’s three main hedge funds dropped between 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent in July. As a result, Greenlight Capital Offshore is up 3.4 percent for the first eight months of the year,…
State Street Appoints Head of Alternative Investment Solutions In Asia (ChinaMoneyNetwork)
State Street Corporation has appointed Bob Keogh as head of its Alternative Investment Solutions (AIS) division for the Asia Pacific region, according to an announcement. Based in Hong Kong, Keogh will oversea State Street’s fund administration services for hedge fund, private equity and real estate fund in Asia Pacific. He was previously senior managing director for State Street’s hedge fund servicing business based in Europe. Bob joined State Street in 2012 from Goldman Sachs as part of State Street’s acquisition of Goldman Sachs Administration Services (GSAS).
S&P Capital IQ Releases Quarterly Hedge Fund Tracker (HedgeCo)
Technology and healthcare stocks saw the largest growth in new hedge fund buying activity during Q2 2014, with Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the most popular individual stocks, a review of 2014 Q2 13F filings by US-based pure play hedge funds show. Citadel and Renaissance were the top two hedge funds in terms of total equity holdings, followed by Millennium Management which beat Icahn to 3rd spot. “Both institutional and retail investors share an enormous interest in where the largest hedge funds put their money.
Two secret funders of Nigel Lawson’s climate sceptic organisation revealed (TheGuardian)
Two secret funders of Nigel Lawson’s climate sceptic organisation have been revealed. This is the first time anyone financing the group has confirmed their contributions. Both are linked to a free-market thinktank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which has admitted taking funding from fossil fuel companies and has also argued against climate change mitigation. …Record and Vinson are the first GWPF funders to confirm their donations. Sir Michael Hintze, a major Conservative donor and hedge fund tycoon, was named by the Guardian in 2012 as a GWPF funder but has not confirmed or denied his GWPF link. Like Record, Hintze is an IEA trustee.
Biden Assails Carried-Interest Loophole (Finalternatives)
Vice President Joseph Biden took aim at the so-called “carried interest” tax loophole benefiting hedge fund and private equity managers during a Labor Day address in Detroit. Biden spoke at the bankrupt city’s Labor Day parade, decrying what he called a war against organized labor. But he also hammered the carried-interest loophole as fundamentally unfair.
Expect positive US data this week: Strategist (CNBC)
Banks Move To Prevent Argentine-Style Debt Disputes (Finalternatives)
The International Capital Markets Association is moving to ensure that the ugliness between Argentina and a group of hedge funds that pushed the country into its second default in 13 years doesn’t happen again. The group is changing the standard sovereign bond contract to add a collective-action clause that will allow a supermajority of creditors to accept restructurings that would be binding on all creditors. ICMA, which sets capital market conventions and standards, also plans to change the pari passu clause guaranteeing equal treatment to bar its use to block payments on restructured debt.
Hong Kong Newspaper Drops Democracy Advocate’s Column (NYTimes)
A Hong Kong hedge fund manager who has rallied support from bankers and brokers for the city’s pro-democracy movement said Tuesday that a leading business newspaper had dropped his long-running column. He revealed the newspaper’s decision two days after the Chinese government roundly rejected the movement’s demands. The hedge fund manager, Edward C.K. Chin, and his supporters said The Hong Kong Economic Journal’s decision was the latest blow to Hong Kong’s beleaguered media freedoms, a criticism that the newspaper rejected…
Japan regulator says Singapore-based hedge fund manipulated share prices (BRecorder)
A Singapore-based hedge fund manipulated prices in the Japanese equity market and should pay a 431 million yen ($4.38 million) fine, Japan’s securities regulator said, which would be biggest ever imposed against a non-Japanese firm for market manipulation. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) said on Wednesday that Juggernaut Capital Management inflated the share price of real estate developer Rise Inc for 26 business days during March and April last year.
Hedge Funds Buoyed in First Half by Private Wealth Allocations (ThinkAdvisor)
Hedge fund managers may be feeling competitive pressure for investor assets, but their fundraising is thriving. Alternative investments data provider Preqin reported Thursday that 73% of some 100 hedge fund managers it surveyed in June said competition in fundraising had become more intense over the past 12 months. Yet, 64% of respondents — single-fund and fund-of-funds managers — said their assets had increased during the first half. As well, 61% of firms that managed alternative UCITS and 50% of those that offered alternative mutual fund products reported net inflows.
Compuware sold to Thoma Bravo for $2.5B (CNBC)
Technology services company Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ:CPWR) said Tuesday it would sell itself to private equity firm Thoma Bravo in a deal valued at $2.5 billion. Compuware shareholders will receive a total of $10.92 per share, the sides said. The stock rose 13 percent to $10.56 in morning trading. Hedge fund Elliott Management entered into a deal to vote its Compuware shares in favor of the sale. Elliott had for years pushed the company to sell itself.
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Allergan Inc. (AGN), Apple Inc. (AAPL) Are Among Hedge Funds’ Favorite Picks