Hard-Hit Macro Hedge Funds Stage Nascent Turnaround (WSJ)
Global macro hedge funds are showing signs of life after weathering a difficult period. These funds, which bet on movements in instruments as diverse as bonds, equities, currencies and commodities, are famous for large, double-digit returns and big directional trades by the likes of billionaire George Soros. In recent years, the funds’ returns have been hurt by the difficulty of predicting the moves of politicians and lawmakers. The early signs this year were not especially encouraging. Bets that the dollar would continue its rise against the yen and that U.S. Treasury yields would move higher—both trades that worked last year—proved badly wrong.
Gas Bulls Cut Bets by Most Since November as Supply Gains (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund managers’ retreat from bullish natural gas bets is becoming an exodus as mild weather and rising production erode a record supply shortfall. Money managers cut net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, by 15 percent in the seven days ended July 1, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Net-long bets fell by the most since November. Long positions slumped 9.2 percent while bearish bets dropped by 2.7 percent. A deficit to five-year average gas stockpiles has narrowed to 29 percent from an all-time high of 55 percent in April at the end of a frigid U.S. winter…
Highbridge Capital brings on former Fortress managing director (PIOnline)
Jonathan Ashley joined Highbridge Capital Management’s London office as a portfolio manager in the alternative investment manager’s principal strategies unit. Mr. Ashley’s position is new, said a source with knowledge of Mr. Ashley’s appointment who requested anonymity. He is on the investment team that manages Highbridge Capital’s non-hedge fund strategies, including mezzanine debt, leveraged loans, credit and growth equity. Mr. Ashley was a managing director on the London-based private equity team of Fortress Investment Group. Gordon Runte, a Fortress spokesman, could not be reached for comment about Mr. Ashley’s replacement by press time.
Tiger Global Up, Discovery Down in Mixed Year for Tiger Offspring (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
Tiger Global Management is on a roll of late. The New York-based asset management firm, headed by Charles (Chase) Coleman III and Feroz Dewan, posted a 6.1 percent gain in its flagship Tiger Global hedge fund in June and is now up 15.25 percent for the year to date. It was up only 0.5 percent through April. As a result, it is one of the top performing hedge funds in what has been an otherwise rough first half, especially for the Tiger Management offspring – who have ties to Julian Robertson Jr.’s fabled hedge…
Will bet on India over US in 5-10 years horizon: Marc Faber (MoneyControl)
Investment guru Marc Faber is gung-ho on Indian equities and prefers betting his chips on India rather than the US. Faber, the author of Gloom Boom & Doom Report, said he doesn’t see the latter giving good returns in the next five-10 years horizon. The key near-term trigger for the Indian market is pro-reform Modi government’s maiden Union Budget on July 10. Investors are closely watching the event and with the countdown in its last leg, Faber expects the Indian government to look at simplifying tax code . Also, to boost the subdued investment climate, team Modi will have to fix a slew of issues, he added.
Wife of hedge-fund boss in £1bn divorce claims she made him a philanthropist (Telegraph)
The ex-wife of one of the UK’s leading philanthropists suggested she was the reason he had directed so much of his vast wealth towards good causes. Jamie Cooper-Hohn claimed during what could be Britain’s first billion-pound divorce case that when she met her former husband, Sir Christopher Hohn, he had only been interesting in becoming rich. She suggested that it was due to her influence that he had turned his attention to charitable giving.
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