…their dealings with “political intelligence” firms that try to predict government decisions. A Height Analytics LLC report on April 1 told clients more than 40 minutes before the official announcement that the U.S. would reverse plans for a Medicare Advantage rate cut.
Rubicon Vets Launch $300M Global Macro Hedge Fund (FINalternatives)
At long last, Rubicon Fund Management’s former chief investment officers are back in the hedge fund industry. Timothy Attias and Santiago Alarco’s Canosa Capital debuted today with about US$300 million, Bloomberg News reports. The London-based global macro fund is backed by Sweden’s Brummer & Partners, which will also own a stake in Cansoa. Alarco and Attias’ new fund will invest in fixed-income, currencies, equity indices and commodities. The highly-liquid portfolio will be structured around three to four themes with six or seven trades in each.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), And Warren Buffett’s Newest Buy (Insider Monkey)
Hedge fund Centaurus to return cash to investors – source (Interactive Investor)
Hedge fund firm Centaurus Capital is returning all money to external investors after disagreements with clients about where the best money-making opportunities lie, a source familiar with the firm said. The partners of the London-based firm will continue to trade using their own cash, the source added. Centaurus recently sat down with investors and decided it wanted to focus on general event-driven opportunities such as bets on company takeovers rather than the risk arbitrage strategies which many clients preferred.
Evans Randall Targets Hedge Funds With Mayfair Deal (Bloomberg)
Evans Randall Ltd., half owner of the London tower known as the Gherkin, bought 60 million pounds ($93 million) of office property in the city’s Mayfair district. The buyout firm purchased a 34,000 square-foot (3,150 square-meter) office building at 15 Sackville Street, Evans Randall said yesterday in a statement. It also joined with Al Salam Bank Bahrain in the purchase of 4 and 5 Queen Street, where it will develop six luxury apartments, according to the statement. “We intend to lease the vacant offices to companies where demand is strong such as hedge funds, boutique investment firms and perhaps technology, media and communications firms on the lower floors,” Evans Randall Chairman Michael Evans said in a telephone interview.
Kass, Berkshire’s Bear, is ready to “surprise” Buffett (Chicago Tribune)
Hedge fund trader Doug Kass had his first brush with fame at the age of 10, when he appeared on a television quiz show, Tic-Tac-Dough, and won every day for a week. More than five decades later, Kass might find another sort of celebrity this Saturday when he will have the opportunity to quiz billionaire investor Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett in March handpicked Kass, founder of hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management Inc, to be Berkshire’s first “credentialed bear” to attend the meeting, and “spice things up.
Financier faces up to 20 years (Charlotte Observer)
A Charlotte hedge fund manager has agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud for hiding investment losses that cost his victims at least $8.9 million, according to court documents. Stephen Ewing Maiden agreed to plead guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, according to an agreement signed in February by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Odulio. A final plea hearing has not been scheduled. Maiden’s attorney, Richard Glaser Jr., declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina also declined to comment. According to court records, Maiden hid losses in his hedge fund, called the Maiden Capital Opportunity Fund, by routinely sending “bogus account statements” to investors and the fund’s administrator.
