Korea’s $400 Billion Pension Plans Hiring Spree for Push (Bloomberg)
South Korea’s National Pension Service plans to double its investment staff within three years and hire foreigners for the first time as the $400 billion fund boosts holdings of overseas assets. NPS, whose 200 money-management employees earned about 83 million won ($77,000) on average last year, must increase salaries to attract talent in New York and London, said Chief Executive Officer Choi Kwang. The fund started a team this month to manage its foreign-exchange risk and is studying investments in hedge funds as it plans to lift overseas holdings to about 30 percent of assets from 20 percent within five years.
Ariad stock spikes on report that hedge fund wants board seats (BizJournals)
Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) stock was up double-digits this afternoon following a Reuters article late Thursday that said a large shareholder is angling to get at least two of its eight board seats. Sarissa Capital Management, a hedge fund run by Alex Denner, disclosed a 6.3 percent stake in the company last November, becoming the second-largest shareholder after the Cambridge, Mass., drug company’s stock had hit its lowest point in almost three years. Reuters cited unnamed sources who reportedly said Sarissa has spoken to Ariad, and is interested in reaching a settlement before a proxy deadline on Feb. 20.
Hedge funds avoided short-term pain: Lyxor (International-Adviser)
Hedge funds have weathered the relative storms attached to emerging markets, global growth and central banks in recent weeks. According to the Lyxor Alternative Investment Industry Barometer, the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was only down 0.4% compared with the MSCI World Index, which lost 3.8% over the month. It said after three weeks of “tactical retracement” to take in the rally witnessed at the end of last year, several events in emerging markets contributed to hurting both their economies and those of developed nations, while relative value strategies fared better.
Guess Who’s Calling for Taxpayer-Financed Campaigns (TheBlaze)
Jonathan Soros, son of progressive billionaire investor George Soros, is among a group of 60 wealthy Democratic donors who signed a letter to members of Congress calling for taxpayer-financed political campaigns. “We urge you to fix today’s broken campaign finance laws. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake,” the letter said. “We who sign this letter raise and give substantial sums for elections. The influence that people like us have will be curtailed by the changes we seek, but our democracy must return to the First Amendment principle that all Americans, not just the wealthy, must have their voices heard.”
Dr. Doom: Tech stocks even more overvalued now than in 2000 (Yahoo)
With stocks worldwide off to a bad start in 2014, one man isn’t surprised by any of this. Dr. Marc Faber, editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom, and Doom Report, thinks the drop in the markets, particularly with US stocks, were nothing compared to what they could – or should – have done. While turmoil in emerging markets is often cited as the culprit for stocks’ decline, others are pointing the finger at the Federal Reserve Bank for tapering its monetary stimulus. Faber believes the fall in equities is the fault of the Fed, but not because of tapering.
Can Apple’s Buybacks Bring the Stock’s Shine Back? (WSJ)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) +1.40% bought $14 billion of its own shares in the two weeks following its recent earnings report, but it may not be enough to appease shareholders like Carl Icahn who want the iPhone maker to do more with its cash. Apple “has to do something,” Roger Kay, president and founder of Endpoint Technologies, said Friday on the Digits show. “If it’s not going to buy a big company or several big companies, it has to do something else because nobody really wants Apple to be a bank and just manage money.”
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