Israel Hedge Funds Defy Iran Threat Multiplying in Tech Center (BusinessWeek)
Tal Keinan, an Israeli fund manager, was ready for the question he’s always asked when he met with investors in New York in October: Why put your money with a manager whose country Iran has threatened to obliterate. “We tell them ‘if the Iranians attack, the worst thing that can happen is you lose your money manager not your money,’” Keinan, chief executive officer of Tel Aviv-based KCPS & Company, which oversees $1 billion in assets, said in an interview on Oct. 14. “The notion is trade global markets with global assets and clients, but just do it from Israel because of the concentration of talent here.”
Hedge Fund Seeks Ouster of SandRidge Energy’s Board (NYTimes)
A New York hedge fund filed papers with federal securities regulators on Wednesday seeking to oust the board at SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD), the latest salvo in its continuing campaign against the struggling Oklahoma City oil and gas company. The hedge fund, TPG-Axon Capital Management, which owns nearly 7 percent of SandRidge’s shares, submitted so-called consent solicitation documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, offering up its own slate of directors to replace the current board.
Investigators Use Insiders’ Own Words To Convict Them (KUHF)
It was another busy year for federal authorities pursuing insider trading cases. Seventy-five people have now been charged in the last three years, and investigators say that success comes largely from their decision to attack insider trading the way they take down the Mafia and drug cartels — with tools such as wiretaps, informants and cooperators. The story behind how the government decided to go after insider trading as hard as it goes after the mob is really just a story about dead ends. “It was a product of sitting around the table and saying, ‘OK, nothing else has worked. Where do we go now?'” said FBI Agent David Chaves, sitting in the FBI’s New York field office in downtown Manhattan.
Morningstar MSCI Composite Hedge Fund Index up 0.5% (est.) in November (4.8% YTD) (Opalesque)
Morningstar Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, reports preliminary hedge fund performance for November 2012 as well as estimated asset flows through October. The Morningstar MSCI Composite Hedge Fund Index, an asset-weighted composite of nearly 1,000 hedge funds in the Morningstar Hedge Fund database, rose 0.5% in November, and was up 4.8% year to date and 5.0% over the last 12 months.
Hedge Funder Builds $75M Home (DailyVoice)
The tiny hamlet of Hastings-on-Hudson will boast one of the largest and most valuable homes in the country when hedge fund founder David E. Shaw’s new residence is completed. Shaw’s Rivertowns residence, which is perched on a hill with a panoramic view of the Palisades overlooking the Hudson River, is being built on several prime properties along a stretch of Broadway just south of the Dobbs Ferry-Hastings line. The founder of D.E. Shaw & Co. had been planning the large house for several years.
