David Simon’s Twin Securities Wins Best Merger Arbitrage Fund for the Second Year in a Row at HFMWeek’s 2013 U.S. Hedge Fund Performance Awards (PRWeb)
Twin Capital Management LLC, a New York-based hedge fund firm, announced today that its fund, Twin Securities, L.P., has been named “Best Merger Arbitrage Fund” at the 2013 HFMWeek U.S. Hedge Fund Performance Awards. This marks the second year in a row that Twin Capital Management LLC has won this award. “We want to thank HFMWeek for recognizing Twin Capital with this award for two consecutive years,” said David Simon, founder of Twin Capital Management LLC. “This honor is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Twin Capital team.
Co-Op Bank To Become Hedge Fund Bank? (ManagementToday)
When is a co-operative not a co-operative? When it’s majority owned by a group of US hedge funds. That’s the fate that’s befallen the Co-operative Bank, the struggling lender which over the summer admitted it had a £1.5bn hole in its balance sheet. To plug the gap, the bank suggested a ‘bail-in’, where junior bondholders would swap their debt for equity (thereby taking most of the hit), reducing its debt repayments and allowing it to shore up its capital that way. Admittedly, under the plans it would have floated on the stock market – but the Co-operative Group would still have been the majority shareholder.
SAC’s Settlement Signals the End of the Wild West on Wall Street (Time)
Over the past twenty years, Steve Cohen built his hedge fund SAC Capital into one of the largest and most successful operations on Wall Street, making himself into a billionaire nine times over. But Cohen’s long and illustrious career may be coming to an end, as reports say that the Justice Department and SAC Capital will soon agree to terms on a settlement that will ultimately cost the firm nearly $1.2 billion and bar Cohen from ever managing other people’s money again. This is the culmination of a years-long effort by federal officials to bring down a shop they allege fostered an environment where insider trading was implicitly encouraged.
SEC brings fraud charges against collateral manager of CDO (HedgeWeek)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought charges against a New Jersey-based investment advisory firm and its owner for misleading investors in a collateralised debt obligation (CDO). The SEC’s enforcement division alleges that Harding Advisory LLC and Wing F. Chau compromised their independent judgment as collateral manager to a CDO named Octans I CDO Ltd. in order to accommodate trades requested by a third-party hedge fund firm whose interests were not necessarily aligned with the debt investors.
GLG to start hedge fund based on Europe, to hire traders / analysts (HereIsTheCity)
Bloomberg reports that the fund started trading this month and is overseen by Pierre Lagrange, Simon Savage and Darren Hodges, who manage the firm’s $3bn European Long-Short Fund, said the people, who asked not to be identified because it hasn’t been announced publicly. GLG plans to hire traders and analysts with experience investing in U.S. and Asian companies to work on the fund, said one of the people. Man Group has been unveiling new hedge funds in an effort to boost assets after clients pulled more than $10bn from its biggest one, AHL Diversified, since the end of 2010.
Hedgies bounce back with best returns of 2013 (Portfolio-Adviser)
Hedgies have posted some of their best returns for 2013 though out of favour commodity strategies are continuing to come under pressure. After delivering lacklustre returns during August, hedge fund managers returned to form during September to record some of their best results for the year so far. Along with a strong July, figures for September have helped push the hedge fund benchmark to 7.17%, according to alternatives research house Preqin.
Former Shanghai Ghetto Moves To Turn Itself Into China’s Hedge Fund Hub (ChicagoTribune)
Shanghai’s Hongkou district was home before the country’s Communist revolution to thousands of often stateless immigrants fleeing Hitler that lived in what was called the Jewish ghetto. Landmark pre-war buildings in the area such as the Broadway Mansions and the Astor Hotel are still standing, open as tourist sports and represent fairly well-preserved throwbacks to another era of the storied city’s history. Since China launched its economic reforms in the 1980s, Hongkou has lacked the success of Shanghai’s wealthier areas such the Lujiazui financial district located directly across from it on the other side of the Huangpu River that divides Shanghai into two halves.
Hedge fund assets surpass new milestone in third quarter (CPI)
Hedge fund capital rose to $2.51 trillion in 3Q13, an increase of $94 billion over the prior quarter, with growth distributed across all strategy areas, according to the latest HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report, released today by HFR. “Investors allocated over $23 billion of net new capital to hedge funds in 3Q13, the highest quarterly inflows since 2Q11,” it said. “The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gained +2.2 per cent in 3Q13 and has gained +5.5 per cent YTD through September, with performance leadership from Equity Hedge and Event Driven strategies.
Asian Hedge Funds’ Returns Top U.S., Europe Counterparts (WSJ)
Asia’s fledgling hedge-fund industry is springing to life, attracting the most money this year since before the global financial crisis and beating returns in the U.S. and Europe. Net inflows of $14.4 billion in the nine months ended Sept. 30 have brought total assets under management in Asia to $140.8 billion, according to data provider Eurekahedge Pte. Ltd. Asia’s hedge-fund industry is closer to the peak of $176 billion reached in 2007 than it has ever been in the last five years, a reflection of growing confidence in the region’s hedge-fund managers and the prospect of high returns as economic growth in Asia remains far stronger than the rest of the world.
Soros-Backed Essent Seeks $1.2 Billion Valuation in IPO (Bloomberg)
Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT), the mortgage insurer backed by George Soros and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), is seeking a valuation of $1.2 billion in an initial public offering as the company adds capital to expand sales. Essent and its investors are selling 19.7 million shares for $13.50 to $15.50 apiece, according to a regulatory filing today from the Bermuda-based firm. At the midpoint, that would raise about $286 million for a 24 percent stake.
Carl Icahn Cuts WebMD Below 5%, No Longer an Activist Stake (InsiderMonkey)
Carl Icahn, WebMD: In an amended 13D just filed with the SEC, Carl Icahn announced that he has agreed to sell back 5.5 million shares of WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ:WBMD) at a price of $32.08 each. Icahn held 6.7 million shares of WebMD at the end of the last 13F filing period, and the cut drops his stake far below the 5% threshold needed to carry out any sort of activist agenda.
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