Chanos, Zimmerman on Hedge Fund History (Bloomberg)
Jim Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates Ltd., Jamie Zimmerman, chief executive officer of Litespeed Management LLC, Michael Novogratz, principal at Fortress Investment Group LLC, and Steve Kuhn, head of fixed income trading at Pine River Capital Management LP, discuss the history of the hedge fund industry and government regulation. Betty Liu reports on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” The full conversation, “Titans at the Table,” airs tomorrow on Bloomberg Television at 9 p.m. New York time.
Investing in U.S. Treasuries Makes No Sense, Omega’s Leon Cooperman Says (Bloomberg)
Leon Cooperman, chief executive officer of Omega Advisors Inc., said buying U.S. Treasuries is the least attractive investment in a world of “financial repression.” “With a 2 percent government bond, if we’re talking about marginal tax rates, you’re keeping 60 percent of your 2 percent — you’re keeping 1.2. percent,” Cooperman said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack” with Erik Schatzker. “The rate of inflation is somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 percent, so your capital is being confiscated. It makes no sense.”
Investor Rogers Compares Myanmar Reforms to China’s Opening (Businessweek)
Investor Jim Rogers, the chairman of Rogers Holdings who predicted a global commodities rally in 1999, said Myanmar is embracing reform as China did decades earlier and he’s optimistic about the resource-rich nation’s prospects. “If I could put all of my money into Myanmar, I would,” Rogers said at a conference in Singapore today. “Myanmar is in the same place China was in early 1979, when Deng Xiaoping said we have to do something new. Myanmar is now opening up.”
Baupost Group Posts 2011 Gain, Announces New Hires, Promotions (Opalesque)
Baupost Group is a Boston-based hedge fund founded by Seth Klarman emphasizing risk management. In a letter to investors obtained by Opalesque, Klarman notes that despite rocky market conditions in the latter half of 2011, the fund did post a gain for the year supported in large part by the strengthening of its team through a series of promotions and new hires. “Our major accomplishments in 2011 involved the avoidance of substantial loss, the resolute building and continued refinement of a very attractive portfolio, and the invaluable strengthening, deepening, and seasoning of our team,” Klarman writes.
Paulson Fund Sued Over Sino-Forest Losses (Bloomberg)
John Paulson’s $23 billion hedge fund was sued by an investor over Paulson & Co.’s reported $468 million losses in Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE) last year. Hugh Culverhouse seeks class-action status on behalf of all investors who lost money in the hedge fund, according to a complaint filed today in federal court in Miami.
Paulson Responds to Suit: ‘We Are Moving Beyond’ Sino-Forest (WSJ)
This evening, Paulson has sent the investors that stuck with him a letter about this. In essence it says: We believed Sino-Forest (sort of like other people) didn’t lie and we’re moving on with our lives now. Here’s the full letter from Paulson…
LightSquared Bad News Keeps Coming (WSJ)
The headaches for LightSquared continue to pile up. The company, which is trying to build a new national wireless network, was sent a default notice by satellite telecommunications firm Inmarsat PLC on Monday.
Expert Networker John Kinnucan Indicted for Securities Fraud (Bloomberg)
John Kinnucan, founder of Broadband Research LLC, was indicted for passing tips to clients at two unidentified hedge funds about SanDisk Corp (SNDK), F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV), OmniVision Technologies Inc. (OVTI) and other companies. Kinnucan, 54, was charged in today’s indictment with two counts of conspiracy and two counts of securities fraud in a scheme to obtain nonpublic information about technology companies for his clients that operated from 2008 to 2010.
Doric Shuts Flagship Hedge Fund To Focus On Small Cap Strategy (Reuters)
Doric Capital Corp, one of Hong Kong’s oldest hedge fund firms founded by former Man Group Plc executive Michael Nock, has shut its decade-old Asia ex-Japan long/short equity fund and plans to focus on managing its small-cap strategy. Launched in October 2001, the flagship Doric Focus Fund closed in January following a 28 percent loss in 2011, according to a letter to investors seen by Reuters this week. Assets were down to about $25 million from a peak of just over $350 million in 2006.
Lansdowne Drops UK From Name Of $7.5 Billion Hedge Fund (Reuters)
Lansdowne Partners, one of Europe’s biggest hedge fund firms, is to rename its flagship $7.5 billion UK Equity fund, reflecting its overseas investments and allowing it to invest in emerging markets, a source close to the firm told Reuters. The fund, run by Stuart Roden and Peter Davies, will be renamed the Lansdowne Developed Markets fund in April.
Chinese, Texan And Classic On Hedge Fund Menu (Reuters)
From classic to Chinese or even Texan, hedge funds are deploying a variety of trading strategies this year to make the most of sizeable deals, including Glencore and Roche, after a freeze in deal-making dented their returns during the second half of 2011. Known as arbitrageurs, hedge funds that make profits by betting on the outcome of mergers and acquisition activity finished 2011 with an average loss of around 2 percent, according to data from Hedge Fund Research – a far cry from the average 9.1 percent return they had enjoyed since 1990.
What the Hedge Funds are Buying (The Reformed Broker)
My friend Brett and his team at Street of Walls do a really nice job each quarter analyzing the 13Fs of 23 top hedge funds. They slice and dice the data and come up with some really great ways to visualize what’s happening in Hedgistan. I pulled some stuff from the report, click the link below and check it out for yourself!
Hedge Fund Seeks $70 Mln Deposit Repayment From Bank Mutiara (Reuters)
Luxembourg-based hedge fund Weston International Investment Ltd has initiated legal proceedings against Indonesian lender Bank Mutiara for a $70 million deposit repayment, Weston said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pershing Square Names Another CP Rail Board Nominee (Reuters)
Pershing Square Capital Management, which is waging a proxy battle against Canadian Pacific Railway, said on Wednesday that Canadian businessman Paul Haggis has agreed to be one of Pershing’s nominees to sit on CP’s board.
Closures And Losses Push Back Asia Hedge Fund Industry (Reuters)
A rough year for Asian hedge funds in 2011 exposed the long-only bias of many managers’ portfolios, leaving the industry fighting a tough battle to retain clients as assets shrink and fund closures accelerate. The setback puts at risk the industry’s slow recovery since 2008 and highlights the need for the survivors to reinvent themselves in Asia, where lower market turnover makes some of the trading strategies used by hedge funds in the United States and Europe harder to replicate.
Hedge Fund Profits Don’t Go To Clients, Investor Says (Reuters Hedge World)
Simon Lack, author of “The Hedge Fund Mirage,” says overcapitalized hedge funds with high fees can generate big profits for their managers, but not for those who invest in the funds. “The hedge fund industry has made huge amounts of money,” Lack says. “It’s just that the money hasn’t made its way back to the clients. And it wasn’t always that way. In the late ’90s, hedge fund investors did really well; there just weren’t many of them.”
Former Citadel PM J.J. Berney To Launch Equity Fund (AR)
Citadel veteran Jeffrey Jon “J.J.” Berney is preparing the launch of TriOaks Capital Management, a New York based long/short equity fund focused on the communications, media, entertainment and consumer sectors. Founder and chief executive officer Berney hopes…
Hedge Fund JAT Capital’s Top Stock Picks (Market Watch)
John Thaler launched JAT Capital Management in 2007 after cutting his teeth at the private equity firm Spectrum Equity Investors and later Chris Shumway’s Shumway Capital Partners. Using a traditional long/short equity strategy combined with a general focus on technology, media and telecom companies, Thaler has managed to beat the odds. Last year, JAT Capital was up roughly 14% through mid-December, which is pretty impressive considering the average hedge fund lost around 4% in 2011. According to a 13F filed with the SEC on Feb. 14, JAT Capital had a portfolio made up of 46 positions, with a total value of just over $2.70 billion, at the end of December.
Exclusive – Citco Wins Marshall Wace Mandate, Ending Citi Relationship (HFM Week)
Marshall Wace has hired Citco to provide fund administration services to all its hedge funds, worth nearly $6bn in assets, ending a 14-year relationship with previous provider Citi, HFMWeek has learned. A source at the London hedge fund manager, founded by industry veterans Paul Marshall and Ian Wace in 1997, denied that the move was driven by dissatisfaction with Citi’s performance, saying the mandate was put out to tender last year to “test the state of the market”
Doric Closes Flagship Fund After 28% Loss (FINalternatives)
A veteran Hong Kong hedge fund has joined the ranks of Asia’s shuttered hedge funds. Doric Capital Corp. has liquidated its flagship Focus Fund after losing 28% last year, Reuters reports. Doric itself is not shutting its doors and will continue to run its Asia Pacific Small Cap Fund.
Petters-Linked Hedge Exec. Barred (FINalternatives)
A top hedge fund executive who pleaded guilty to aiding Thomas Petters’ $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme has been barred from the securities industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Michelle Palm consented to its order with admitting or denying guilt. But the former Arrowhead Capital Management finance director has already done the former, pleading guilty in April to securities fraud and lying to a federal agent. She is cooperating with the investigation, and may testify against Arrowhead founder James Fry.
Paul Tudor Jones Owns A Massive Fleet Of Sick Rides (Business Insider)
Billionaire hedge fund titan Paul Tudor Jones II has sixteen automobiles (seriously) registered under his name, according to Greenwich Time citing the town’s tax rolls.
Complete Latest Hedge Fund Holdings Analysis (Zero Hedge)
The fine folks at Street of Walls have been kind enough to provide us with their latest 13F breakdown which looks at the position changes across America’s 30 largest and most important hedge funds. While we have already focused on some of the more entertaining ones, and tracked the recent rush back into gold, those curious about what the latest hedge fund hotel stocks are (aside from Apple of course) are encouraged to peruse the following exhaustive report.
Chris Christie to Buffett “Just Write A Check And Shut Up” (Value Walk)
Governor Christie had a lot of support from Dan Loeb, who urged Christie to run for GOP nomination. Unsurprisingly, the two seem to have a very similar blunt style of talking.
Eric Sprott: Prepare for Precious Metals to go to Supernova (Value Walk)
Chris Martenson interviews Eric Sprott on the amazing potential for gold and silver to rise in price.
Wilbur Ross on the Unemployment, Disability Benefits (Value Walk)
WL Ross & Co. CEO Wilbur Ross on the validity of unemployment data and the millions filing for disability benefits when their jobless benefits run out.
El Paso Topped Hedge Funds’ Overweight Stocks List in Q4 (Institutional Investors)
Natural gas producer El Paso Corporation topped the list of 15 stocks most overweighted by hedge funds at the end of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, four new stocks appeared on the list. The new stocks are Google, Yahoo, General Dynamics Corporation and Family Dollar Stores, according to a new analysis by the quantitative research team at Credit Suisse Securities.
13-F 60 Page Comprehensive Guide (Value Walk)
RANsquawk European Morning Briefing – Stocks, Bonds, FX etc. – 22/02/12 (Zero Hedge)
Frontrunning: February 22 (Zero Hedge)
Wednesday 7atseven: Fighting The Market (Abnormal Returns)
eVestment|HFN Strategy Focus Report: Macro (HFN)
HFMWeek Daily Snapshot – 22 February (HFM Week)
Banks’ Prop Trading Risk, The SEC’s Surrender, Paulson Sued, Emerging HF Managers’ Big Question And More (Reuters Hedge World)
Morning Read: Calling It Default (Barrons)
Stuff We Missed: Tuesday, February 21st (CNBC)
Hot Links: Louisville (The Reformed Broker)
Morning News: February 22, 2012 (Crossing Wall Street)
