Hedge fund mogul Cohen hired legal titan Boies (Reuters)
Hedge fund mogul Steven A. Cohen hired high-profile lawyer David Boies last year to defend him in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proceeding that arose from a long-running insider trading probe, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Boies was retained by Cohen in 2013 to help handle matters with the regulator, which last year initiated an administrative proceeding against the SAC Capital Advisors founder for failing to supervise two employees and prevent insider trading, the person said. In the proceeding, the SEC seeks to bar Cohen from overseeing investor funds.
Swiss Asset Manager GAM To Buy New Jersey-Based Singleterry Mansley Hedge-Fund Firm (WSJ)
Swiss money manager GAM Holding AG GAM.EB +1.51% said Thursday it agreed to acquire a New Jersey hedge-fund firm, confirming a day-earlier report in The Wall Street Journal that indicated negotiations were close to completion. Zurich-based GAM, with about $129 billion under management, said in a news release that Singleterry Mansley Asset Management Co. LLC would officially join the firm as soon as this month. Singleterry Mansley, based in Summit, N.J., runs the Beachwood Total Return fund, a credit and fixed income-focused strategy fund with $397 million of assets. The five-year-old Beachwood fund has posted strong performance, and hasn’t had a down year, investor documents indicate.
A Billionaire Just Locked on to Barnes & Noble (CountingPips)
I leveraged my success as one of the country’s top analysts to launch this publication, Wall Street Daily. I did it directly into the teeth of the Financial Crisis, knowing that the potential for outsized returns existed in any market. That is, as long as you’re willing to dig for them. Our growing nation of readers, now over a million strong, is proof that it’s working. Today is the latest example. In my usual sweep of billionaires’ portfolios, I discovered that David Abrams just bought shares of beleaguered retailer, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS). Abrams is the self-made billionaire hedge fund manager of Abrams Capital Management, which has $8 billion under management.
Pershing Launches Alternative Investment Center (HedgeCo)
Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today launched its Alternative Investment Center, the latest addition to an expanding suite of alternative investment solutions, at its INSITE™ 2014 conference in Hollywood, Florida. Pershing’s Alternative Investment Center, which can be accessed through NetX360, the firm’s technology platform, provides advisors access to the educational resources, research and tools required to provide solutions for their clients seeking alternative investment strategies. Pershing also announced today new alternative investment asset class additions to FundVest 200, the firm’s research-driven list of no-transaction fee mutual funds, including domestic and international real estate, credit/event-driven, managed futures, absolute return and multi-strategy funds.
Accused Hedge Fund Fraudster Homm Freed (Finalternatives)
Florian Homm has been shot and spent five years on the run. But the Absolute Capital Management founder’s latest escape may be his greatest. Facing criminal fraud charges in the U.S., Homm was arrested in Italy last year on allegations that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life. His prospects looked grim in January, when he lost his second-to-last bid to avoid extradition. But when Italy’s highest court rejected his appeal, the clock started ticking for the U.S., which then had 45 days to secure the extradition. The court ruled Tuesday that Homm had been held in jail longer than allowed and set him free.
UK retailer Game Digital aims for $600 mln share listing (Reuters)
Video games retailer, Game Digital (IPO-GAME.L) is to be valued at up to 360 million pounds ($603.13 million) in its London share flotation, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The video games chain, which has 560 stores across the UK and Spain has set its price range for its initial public offering at 200-212 pence a share, the sources said. The price range gives Game Digital, which has been owned by U.S. hedge fund Elliott Advisors since it bought the UK and Spain businesses out of administration in 2012, an equity value of 340-360 million pounds. Books are already covered ahead of its pricing on Friday, the sources said.
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