Corzine not likely to start a hedge fund anytime soon (Opalesque)
Troubled broker and former chief executive of bankrupt brokerage firm MF Global Jon Corzine is not likely to start his own hedge fund. At least not anytime soon, people close to him interviewed by Fox Business Network reported. A Wall Street executive told Fox Business that Corzine is currently waiting to see how the investigation into the bankrupt MF Global unfolds and denied reports that he might start a hedge fund. The person added that Corzine might even never launch one. “I don’t think he’s going to start a hedge fund,” the person was quoted as saying.
Commodities fund of hedge funds manager cuts second layer of fees (Opalesque)
Anric Blatt, Chairman of Global Fund Exchange, an investment management group, told Opalesque that he would drastically reduce his fees for a couple of month. All his funds are multi-manager funds: either funds of managed accounts, hybrids or funds of hedge funds. They focus on investments in clean energy, water, agriculture, energy and natural resources. Investors who invest up to $100m in any of the funds within the next two dealing dates (September 28 and October 31) will be charged a flat management fee of 0.75% per annum, and all performance fees will be waived for three years, he said.
Third Point to raise $250m for cat fund (RoyalGazette)
Bermuda-based reinsurer Third Point Re is aiming to raise $250 million by the end of this year to capitalise a new fund to underwrite property and catastrophe business. John Berger, CEO of the hedge fund-backed start-up which launched operations in Bermuda this year, said the fledgling firm hoped to eventually boost the fund to beyond $500 million.
Bridgewater’s Dalio Sees 60 percent chance Greece will stay in Euro (StamfordAdvocate)
Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor who runs the world’s largest hedge fund, said there’s a 60 percent chance that Greece will stay in the euro currency. “If anyone is going to be forced out, it’s more likely that the Germans will be forced out,” Dalio, founder of Westport-based Bridgewater Associates LP, said during a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York Wednesday. “Southern Europeans have the votes that control the monetary policy. You let them vote, they will vote to print money.”
Moore Capital Said to Cut Investment Jobs in Team Restructuring (SFGate)
Moore Capital Management LLC, the $15 billion hedge fund run by Louis Moore Bacon, cut 10 to 15 investment jobs as it restructures one of its equity teams, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The portfolio managers and research analysts were let go on Sept. 11, said one of the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Patrick Clifford, a spokesman for New York-based Moore, declined to comment.
Hedge Fund Makes Quick Work Of Barnes & Noble Stake (Forbes)
Activist hedge fund Jana Partners in August sold the remainder of its stake in Barnes & Noble, after amassing a 12% position in the stock, new SEC filings show. The investment by the fund, which is led by one-time billionaire Barry Rosenstein, proved well-timed. Less than two weeks after Jana disclosed its stake—some 7 million shares—Barnes & Noble stock jumped 52% in one day, driven by news that Microsoft would invest in the company’s e-book division and Nook tablet. The stock ended April 30 at $20.75, far above the time period earlier this year when Jana built its position.
Perruccio to step down from Hermes (eFinancialNews)
Matteo Dante Perruccio is stepping down as chief executive of Hermes BPK Partners, a fund of hedge funds business 60% owned by Hermes Fund Managers. Perruccio started the business four years ago and will leave Hermes BPK at the end of this year. Around 40% of it is owned by management. Perruccio was previously co-chief executive of Olympia Group, a rival fund of hedge funds business bought by UK investment boutique Richmond Capital last year. Before Olympia, Perruccio was chief executive of Pioneer Asset Management, owned by Italian banking group UniCredit.
Court Dismisses Fairfax Financial’s $3.2 Billion Lawsuit; Canadian Firm Plans Appeal (Observer)
A New Jersey Superior Court judge dismissed a $3.2 billion lawsuit alleging that brokerage Morgan Keegan, hedge fund Exis Capital Management and other defendants had conspired to drive down the share price of Canadian firm Fairfax Financial in a ruling issued today. Fairfax sued Morgan Keegan, Exis and other hedge funds in 2006, alleging that defendants bet against Fairfax stock, then attempted to drive down share prices by engaging in a campaign to spread negative information. While charges against hedge funds such as Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital, James Chanos’ Kynikos Associates and Dan Loeb’s Third Point were dismissed in a series of earlier decisions, the New Jersey court had agreed to consider a portion of the original suit.
United States : MFA Elects 2012/2013 Board of Directors, Representing Diverse Group of Leaders with Continued Focus on Global Outreach and Engagement [TendersInfo (India)] (Equities)
The Managed Funds Association (MFA) today announced its 2012/2013 Board of Directors. The new Board represents a diverse group of leaders from the hedge fund and managed futures industry with years of regulatory experience and a global perspective. The new Board signals MFA’s continued goal of constructive engagement with policy makers and regulators around the world. With the new group of leaders installed to guide MFA forward for the next year, MFA remains committed to representing the alternative investment industry as many new reforms and regulations are implemented. As these new regulations progress, MFA and its Board will remain deeply involved in the process of constructively working with policy makers and regulators.
Spotlight on Form PF Filings (HedgeFund)
Hedge fund administrators and technology providers deserve some credit for helping clients submit their Form PF filings. SS&C GlobeOp has succeeded in its filing of the initial Form PF with the Securities and Exchange Commission for customers through its Form PF service offering, according to an announcement on Tuesday. Also announced Tuesday was that Eze Castle Software has executed its first Form PF filing with the SEC on behalf of Atlanta-based hedge fund GMT Capital.
Clear Financial Fund Invests $30M In Solar; Superior Energy’s CEO Talks At Barclay’s Energy-Power Conference; New Report Says Renewable Sources Provide 6% Percent Of U.S. Electricity (JustMeans)
Clear Financial’s Solar21 Renewable-Energy Ireland fund has paid 25 million euros, about $31.4 million dollars, to buy solar power farms in Italy from AEG Power Solutions. The Irish hedge fund is in talks about buying more solar energy production for another 45 million euros, about $56.5 million dollars. Solar21 has 100 million euros, about $125.6 million dollars in assets, and targets 8.5 percent annual returns. The president and CEO of Superior Energy Services, David Dunlap, will make a presentation at the 2012 Barclay’s CEO Energy-Power Conference this week in New York. Superior Energy serves oil and gas companies worldwide with drilling products and integrated completion and well intervention services and tools.
Tiger Cub Robert Bishop’s Top Stock Picks (MSNBC)
Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, is a Connecticut-based hedge fund that was founded in 2003. Bishop, who is a member of the vaunted â??Tiger Cubâ? club, focuses his investment efforts on long/short equity strategies with a global perspective. With an estimated $1.8 billion in assets under management, the majority of Impala Asset Managementâ??s clients are pooled investment vehicles and high net worth individuals. In early 2002, Bishop left his post at Maverick Capital Limited to serve as the CIO of Soros Fund Management. A poor performance by Sorosâ?? Quantum Endowment Fund forced Bishop to resign just 16 months after taking the position, therein leading to the establishment of his current fund. While we donâ??t have data on Bishopâ??s individual return numbers, our research has shown that Tiger Cubs as a group generate a positive alpha of 4-5% a year.
Grosvenor Capital Seeds New Activist Firm (HedgeFund)
Activist investment firm Engaged Capital launched this month with the help of Chicago-based hedge fund Grosvenor Capital Management. Engaged announced in a statement that it has received $85 million in seed capital from Grosvenor.
Ex-Intel man Rajiv Goel sentence in wk (IndianExpress)
Intel Corp’s former India-born managing director Rajiv Goel, who had pleaded guilty to passing confidential information about the firm to now-jailed hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, will be sentenced next week on insider trading charges and could face 25 years in prison. Goel, 54, was arrested with Rajaratnam in October 2009 and had pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy and securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21 before Judge Barbara Jones in Manhattan federal court.
New Hire Roundup: FINRA Names New Corporate Communications Head (AdvisorOne)
This week in new hires, FINRA announced that Greg Ahern will be its new head of corporate communications; Neuberger & Berman welcomed Brendan Gill; Ed Holliday and Leanne Sindell went to L&S Advisors; and the Hedge Fund Association made three new appointments. Also, JHS Capital Advisors welcomed Tim Foresman; MDRT announced new leaders for 2012–’13; FASB added three new members to its emerging issues task force; and Debbie Klis joined Ballard Spahr.
These Three Young Investors Knocked The Socks Off Some Big Time Hedge Fund Pros With Their Novel Investing Ideas (BusinessInsider)
The Value Investing Congress and SumZero just announced the three finalists for the Value Investing Challenge and one of them will get to present his idea next month before some of the biggest hedge fund industry names. The finalists and their ideas are as follows: (We added a quick bio based on information we could find about each of the finalists)
Hedge Fund Star James “Jos” Shaver Signs 599 Lexington Lease (CommercialObserver)
A spin-off boutique investment fund started by James “Jos” Shaver has leased space in 599 Lexington Avenue sources say. Mr. Shaver and associates departed the giant hedge fund SAC Capital earlier this year according to written reports, after incubating ventures at the firm, including Electron Capital and Intrepid Capital.
Stamford Seeks Future For Boatyard To Be Evicted By Bridgewater (Finalternatives)
If Bridgewater Associates is to build its planned $750 million headquarters in Stamford, Conn., city officials are likely to have to find a solution for the boatyard the hedge fund hopes to displace. It began that process this week. Stamford will hire a consultant to help it relocate the boatyard in the city’s South End, on a 14-acre parcel on Bateman Avenue that Bridgewater and the state hope will soon house the currently Westport-based hedge fund giant.
Hedge Funds: JOBS ACT Will Open the Marketing Playbook (MarketWatch)
River Communications, a strategic communications and marketing firm specializing in financial services, and Margolis Advisory Group, a consulting firm specializing in sales and distribution solutions for institutional investment management firms, today released a whitepaper titled “The JOBS Act Will Accelerate the Institutionalization of Hedge Funds.” The white paper examines how the lifting of the advertising ban opens the playbook for hedge funds allowing them to now engage in a wider range of strategic communications and marketing activities.
PerTrac Releases New Infographic: Illuminating the World of Hedge Funds (BobsGuide)
From Alfred Winslow Jones coining the term “hedged fund” in 1949 to the recent passage of the JOBS Act, Illuminating the World of Hedge Funds, the new infographic released today by PerTrac, provides a top to bottom look at the hedge fund industry for asset management industry professionals as well as the general public. “With hedge fund advertising just around the corner, we thought this would be the perfect time to showcase the hedge fund industry from a variety of perspectives,” said Jed Alpert, managing director of global marketing at PerTrac. “Not only does Illuminating the World of Hedge Funds provide an overview of key industry metrics and historical factoids, but it also details common statistics and terms that investors are likely to encounter when allocating to hedge funds.”
Ex-Highbridge Trio Shutting Kingsbrook Fund (HFAlert)
Three former Highbridge Capital traders are pulling the plug on their $100 million Kingsbrook Partners hedge fund operation. Ari Storch, Adam Chill and Scott Wallace, who founded New York-based Kingsbrook in 2009, told investors in a Sept. 11 letter that they plan to return all outside capital by yearend — at which point they’ll focus on managing their own money. From its inception through the end of August, the Kingsbrook Opportunities fund posted a cumulative return of 31.1%, though it was down 1% for the first eight months of this year. The vehicle invests in small- and micro-cap companies, mainly through preferred shares, convertible bonds and private investments in public equities.
George Soros Buys 5 Percent of Israeli Oil & Gas Company Adira (Nasdaq)
George Soros has reported buying 9,012,000 shares Adira Energy Ltd (PINK:ADENF) at the average price of $0.14 on Aug. 9, 2012, according to GuruFocus Real Time Picks . He owns 9,012,000 shares, equivalent to 4.99% of the company. The stock price has declined by 24%. Adira Energy is an oil and gas company based in Canada and Israel with exposure to the East Mediterranean, which has two of the world’s largest gas deposits discovered in the decade, and is working on undiscovered and newly discovered oil and gas resources in Israel. Last month, the company raised $11.1 million in a prospectus offering which it will use toward expanding exploration and development programs on its Gabriella, Yitzhak and Samuel licenses, and for general corporate purposes.
Nintendo Recovery Against Phone Led by Mario’s Wii U (Bloomberg)
Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata is convinced the future of gaming still centers on handheld and TV-based machines. He’ll get his answer by Christmas, in the number of new Wii U consoles that get bought. …“The Wii U’s performance will be a gauge of whether there’s still a need for consoles to exist,” said Makoto Kikuchi, chief executive officer at Myojo Asset Management Japan Co., a Tokyo-based hedge fund advisory firm. “If it doesn’t go well, Iwata may have to find a new business model.”
Fink Belies Being Boring Telling Customers to Buy Stocks (Bloomberg)
In June 2008, American International Group Inc. (AIG) was desperately trying to figure out what to do with its $80 billion in money-losing credit-default swaps, which were backed by mortgages. Then Larry Fink came calling. The chief executive officer of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was pitching his firm’s proprietary software to value the derivatives, says Robert Willumstad, AIG’s then-newly installed CEO. Willumstad hired BlackRock, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its October special issue on the 50 Most Influential people in global finance.
Digital Domain Case Is a Chapter 11 Cliffhanger (WSJ)
Digital Domain Media Group Inc (PINK:DDMGQ) +3.37%.’s new chief executive, Ed Ulbrich, has found himself starring in a good old-fashioned cliffhanger, trying to save the award-winning special effects company that, virtually, helped sink the “Titanic” on the big screen and put deceased rapper Tupac Shakur back on stage. Its finances are a mess, and the major motion picture studios that keep Digital Domain in business are threatening to replace it unless it provides assurances “within 48 hours” that it can stay afloat for another 12 months.
Liquid alternatives navigate choppy markets (Opalesque)
Liquid alternatives are gaining more traction with investors seeking both returns and the ability to react nimbly to a changing market environment. The sideways market has pushed some investors out of more illiquid investment options, and into liquid alternatives as a means of navigating risk and exposure during this uncertain time. Liquid alternatives give investors the same access to hedged strategies like long/short equity, with the ability to get in and out quickly. One of the biggest names in this space is Altegris, which offers liquid alternatives for long/short equity, global macro and managed futures. Altegris aims to provide lower volatility and uncorrelated returns by crafting products through a research driven approach that pulls together a mix of top-tier managers in order to drive consistent returns even in choppy markets.
Andrew Bowden Named Deputy Director in the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Andrew J. Bowden has been named Deputy Director of the agency’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). He succeeds Norm Champ who was named in July to head the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Mr. Bowden joined the SEC in November 2011 as the National Associate Director for OCIE’s Investment Adviser/Investment Company Examination Program. He will assume his new responsibilities immediately and continue in his former role until a successor is in place.
Former FrontPoint CIO becomes CEO at ORIX (PIOnline)
Michael Kelly joined ORIX USA Asset Management as CEO. Mr. Kelly is responsible for asset management activities and expansion of the firm’s investment management offering, and is based in New York. The previous CEO, Michael Blum, left in July, confirmed Shelby Menczer, an ORIX USA spokeswoman. Mr. Blum could not be reached for information about his plans.
New Hampshire Retirement System changes bond, alternatives target allocations (PIOnline)
New Hampshire Retirement System, Concord, will reduce fixed income and increase alternatives under a new target asset allocation approved Tuesday, confirmed Marty Karlon, spokesman for the $5.8 billion pension fund. …The target allocations will remain the same for domestic equity, 30%; international equity, 20%; and real estate, 10%. Within alternatives, the target allocations are 5% each private equity and private debt, 3% opportunistic and 2% hedge funds. There were not specific breakdowns previously, Mr. Karlon said.
Hedge Funds Rushed into News Corp. in Second Quarter (InstitutionalInvestor)
The hedge fund industry lifted its weight in energy and information technology in the second quarter. Hedge funds are most overweight in consumer discretionary stocks and are most underweight in consumer staples stocks, according to a quarterly analysis of 13F filings by the quantitative research group at Credit Suisse Securities.
Hire of Goldman spurs A&F spike (NYPost)
Abercrombie & Fitch has tapped Goldman Sachs as an adviser as it faces pressure from an activist shareholder, sources told The Post. Shares of the struggling teen retailer rose 5.4 percent yesterday on reports that it hired the Wall Street bank, as investors wagered that it may put itself up for sale. Nevertheless, it wasn’t immediately clear whether an auction is planned. As previously reported by The Post, Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries has been under fire from big shareholders, including Relational Investors, a San Diego-based hedge fund headed by corporate cage-rattler Ralph Whitworth.
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