Hedge Fund News: David Harding, Steve Cohen, Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (ABX)

…they aren’t as worried about Europe as they were last year. They still worry about fat tails, but the focus of that worry has moved west across the North Atlantic. Their expectations for their own portfolios are somewhat lower than their expectations for the 1-year return on the S&P 500. On the average, they anticipate that the S&P will return 7.9 percent this year. The median forecast is just a bit higher: 8 percent.

Einhorn’s fund raises stake in Cairn Energy (City A.M.)
ACTIVIST investor David Einhorn’s hedge fund has recently built up its stake in London-listed oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy, regulatory filings show. Greenlight Capital last week disclosed a three per cent holding in FTSE 250 component Cairn, though it is believed that the fund has been a shareholder for more than two years.

5 stocks that hedge funds are buying (MarketWatch)
Billionaire Steve Cohen‘s SAC Capital Advisors increased its holdings of Supervalu from a very small number of shares at the beginning of January to a total of almost 11 million shares (see Cohen’s stock picks). SAC now owns 5.1% of the company. Supervalu recently sold many of its supermarket brands to Cerberus Capital Management in order to focus on Save-A-Lot, its discount grocery store. Most grocery stores are currently trading at trailing earnings multiples between 11 and 15 as the industry isn’t particularly attractive. 35% of the float is held short, so many market players are bearish on the company.

Another Litigation Finance Firm Opens its Doors (American Lawyer)
Forming Gerchen Keller Capital LLC, an investment firm focused on large-scale commercial litigation, are Adam Gerchen, Ashley Keller, Travis Lenkner and Terry Carlson. Gerchen, the company’s chief executive officer, was portfolio manager at hedge fund Alyeska Investment Group L.P. and an investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Co. He earned his law degree at Harvard Law School. Keller is chief investment officer who was an analyst at Alyeska and a partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy and graduated from University of Chicago Law School.

SEC puts hedge fund managers on notice regarding compensation arrangements for sales (Futures Magazine)
In a speech before the American Bar Association’s Trading and Markets Subcommittee on April 5, 2013, David Blass, the Chief Counsel of the Division of Markets and Trading, put hedge fund managers and private equity fund managers on notice that they may be engaged in unregistered (and therefore, unlawful) broker dealer activities as a result of the manner by which hedge fund managers compensate their personnel and, in the case of private equity fund managers, the receipt of investment banking fees with respect to their portfolio companies.

Hedge Fund Claims Success in Board Fight at Agrium (24/7 Wall St.)
Jana Partners said this morning that it “appears” as if two of its candidates have been elected to the board of directors of fertilizer maker Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU). Jana, a U.S. hedge fund, proposed a slate of five candidates for the Canadian firm’s 12-member board. The official vote count is due tomorrow at Agrium’s annual meeting.