Soros considers investing in European banks (HedgeWorld)
George Soros wants to invest in Europe’s financial sector, according to a German magazine’s interview with the billionaire investor on Sunday [Feb. 23]. “I believe in the euro,” weekly Der Spiegel quoted him as saying. “Therefore my investment team is looking forward to make a lot of money soon in Europe by, for example, pumping money in banks which urgently need capital,” he added, noting the euro zone needs this kind of private investment right now. Soros, who founded Soros Fund Management, is one of the hedge fund industry’s most closely watched investors.
Sprott Bets on Mexico as Hedge Fund Boosts Bonds: Canada Credit (Bloomberg)
Sprott Asset Management LP is betting Canada’s bond market will be on the losing side of a deepening North American rivalry with Mexico for the fruits of a recovering U.S. economy. Michael Craig, fixed income portfolio manager at Canadian hedge fund Sprott Inc., said he’s buying Mexican government debt because demand for Mexican oil is growing at Canada’s expense. The move comes as the firm, which made its fortune investing in gold and mining stocks, boosts its fixed-income allocation in balanced funds to 30 percent from 25 percent, according to co-chief investment officer John Wilson.
SAC Vet Vine To Launch Hedge Fund Backed By Dymon (Finalternatives)
A refugee from SAC Capital Advisors’ London office plans to launch a Asia-focused equity long/short hedge fund with Dymon Asia Capital. Carl Vine has set up Port Meadow in Oxford, U.K. The firm will launch its maiden fund in the second quarter, with US$150 million in initial assets, from both Dymon and Port Meadow’s partners. The latter include Li Shen, David Perrett and David Tuthill, who worked with Vine at SAC and at UBS AG (ADR) (NYSE:UBS). Port Meadow and Dymon hope to raise as much as US$500 million for the new fund in its first year.
Blue Harbour Pushes For Asset Sales At Hedge Fund-Owned Tribune (Finalternatives)
Activist hedge fund Blue Harbour Group has a “friendly” request for its fellow hedge funds that control the Tribune Co.: Sell off its real-estate holdings and share of the electromagnetic spectrum, please. Blue Harbour founder Clifton Robbins announced a 2.5% stake at the annual meeting of fund of hedge funds EnTrust Capital earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reports. And he said he has urged the company’s leadership, including chairman Bruce Karsh, head of Oaktree Capital Management, to consider selling off additional assets to boost shareholder value.
Money Managers Pile into Hedge Funds (MainStreet)
Institutional money managers love hedge funds, for better or worse. Mostly worse. Hedge funds trailed the performance of the S&P 500 for the fifth year in a row in 2013 and are still below their all-time highs attained back in 2007, according to Bloomberg. But in spite of the lagging performance and high fees of alternative investments, professional money runners continue to pile in. Hedge funds are expected to reach a record breaking $3 trillion in assets by the end of 2014, up from $2.6 trillion as of year-end 2013, according to a Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) investor survey. Money managers say they will pour in $171 billion to hedge funds this year.
Starboard Wants To Put Red Lobster Spinoff Plan To Vote (FoxBusiness)
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)‘s plan to spin off its Red Lobster chain should be put to a shareholder vote, activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP said. Darden said in December it would spin off or sell the floundering Red Lobster chain, bowing to pressure from hedge fund Barington Capital Group. Starboard Value, which owns a 5.5 percent stake in Darden, has been urging the largest U.S. full-service restaurant operator to delay plans to spin off Red Lobster.
Ackman/Herbalife saga not over (CNBC)
Ralph Nader offers names of 20 billionaires who can run for president and “break up two party duopoly” (SFGate)
Consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader wants to shake up 2016 presidential politics — and is suggesting the names of 20 billionaires, including a crowd from Silicon Valley, who he says can make the White House run and “break up the two party duopoly.” Hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) COO Sheryl Sandberg and tech guru Mark Andreessen are all part of the list Nader has sent out in an email today, along with a warning how the 2016 presidential race is already shaping up with Republicans and Democrats in charge.
Hedge Fund Natural Gas Wagers Jump on Tumbling Supplies: Energy (Businessweek)
Hedge funds increased bullish bets on natural gas for the fifth time in six weeks as arctic weather stoked demand for the heating fuel, depleting stockpiles and sending prices to a five-year high. Money managers’ net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, jumped 5 percent in the seven days ended Feb. 18, to the highest level since May, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bearish bets slid 7.3 percent to the lowest level in more than two years.
Hedge-Fund Billionaires Invest in Politics from Two Perspectives (PublicNewsService)
Two hedge-fund billionaires with opposite political leanings have just organized themselves and their wealthy friends to inject more than $100 million into this year’s electoral campaigns. Their efforts continue the pattern made possible by judicial rulings that have opened the floodgates to unlimited spending by individuals, corporations and unions, said Robert Maguire, an analyst for the Center for Responsive Politics. “At least three of the most politically active nonprofits got more than 90 percent of their money from one or two donors,” he said.
What the Hell is Neil Barsky Doing With His Money? (InsidePhilanthropy)
The Marshall Project is Neil Barsky’s grand new venture. It’s being billed as a “not-for-profit, non-partisan news organization dedicated to covering America’s criminal justice system.” It’s set to launch in mid-2014 and Barsky has already poached former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller to act as The Marshall Project’s editor-in-chief. So what does a former hedge fund manager like Barsky think he’s doing by jumping into the newly expanding world of nonprofit digital journalism?
Ex-Deutsche Bank team shuts emerging markets hedge fund (eFinancialNews)
The firm, which was set up by Kay Haigh, the former global head of emerging markets trading at Deutsche Bank, is closing following redemptions after investors lost appetite for emerging markets, Financial News has learned. Lucy Blair, marketing and investor relations, told Financial News: “As appetite for dedicated emerging markets funds decreased, there was an erosion of our assets that compromised our ability to provide an institutional offering.”
Bearish economist Roubini mildly enthusiastic about Canadian economy (TheGlobeAndMail)
Nouriel Roubini, the bearish economist known as Dr. Doom, is now moderately enthusiastic about the Canadian economy, although he thinks our dollar should be 10 per cent below where it is now. Mr. Roubini, speaking to a Bay St. crowd at a meeting of the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto Monday, said Canada’s economy is “doing okay, [but] not exceptionally.” While growth of 2.3 or 2.4 per cent is expected this year and will go a bit higher next year, there are challenges, he said. First of all, commodity prices expected to decline, while the resource boom has led to a relatively high dollar that is “crowding out manufacturing,” he said.
Recommended Reading:
Tricadia Capital Management’s Is Betting Big On These Stocks
