Editor’s Note: Related tickers: BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), Loews Corporation (NYSE:L)
“Hedge funds are the antithesis of baseball,” says Julian Robertson, 80, billionaire founder of one of the most successful hedge funds ever, Tiger Management. “In baseball you can hit 40 home runs on a single-A-league team and never get paid a thing. But in a hedge fund you get paid on your batting average. So you go to the worst league you can find, where there’s the least competition.” This rule has guided Robertson’s investing strategy and is a big reason he has found some of his best ideas “buying into forgotten markets,” which he thinks are mostly in emerging countries today. Says Robertson, “I suppose if I were younger, I would be investing in Africa.“
Long Line to Short Australian Dollar, BlackRock Says (WSJ)
U.S. hedge fund managers are lining up to sell the already battered Australian dollar, BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Managing Director Michael Trudel said. Mr. Trudel told The Wall Street Journal that “there are some pretty prominent hedge fund managers back in the states that have been vocal on getting short the Australian dollar.” “We’ve rarely spoken to a person–either here or among strategists back in New York–that are long the Australian dollar,” said Mr. Trudel, who helps manage more than US$90 billion. New York-based BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) had US$3.94 trillion in assets under management as of March 31.
Icahn a bit short (NYPost)
Dude, you should sell your PCs. A Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) special committee yesterday continued to back a buyout bid from CEO Michael Dell, saying a rival offer from Carl Icahn comes up a bit short — like $3.9 billion short. Icahn and his partner, Southeastern Asset Management, hope shareholders turn down the founder’s $13.65-a-share offer in favor of their plan for a $12-a-share dividend. But the board said Icahn had enough funding only to pay for a $9.35 dividend. The committee, in a dour, 42-page regulatory filing, said the negative trends in the company’s core PC markets make the Michael Dell bid, backed by Silver Lake Management, the only way to go.
November trial date set for ex-hedge fund manager (WSJ)
A judge on Wednesday set a November trial date for the insider trading trial of a former hedge fund portfolio manager for SAC Capital Advisors. Mathew Martoma is accused of earning $9 million in bonuses after persuading a medical professor to leak secret data from an Alzheimer’s disease trial between 2006 and 2008. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe set the Nov. 4 trial date during a hearing in federal court in Manhattan.
Say Hello To The New Hedge Fund: The Family Office (HereIsTheCity)
A string of billionaire hedge funders-including George Soros and Carl Icahn-have all transformed their hedge funds into family offices managing billions of dollars. For hundreds of years, family offices have been the financial equivalent of social registers-small, musty preserves of the rich that have little impact on the real world. But now, due to a giant regulatory loophole, family offices are becoming major players in financial markets. A string of billionaire hedge funders-including George Soros , Carl Icahn , and Stanley Druckenmiller-have all transformed their hedge funds into family offices managing billions of dollars. SAC, the giant hedge fund run by Steve Cohen, could become next in line, as the fund grapples with redemptions and government investigations.
Here’s What This $5 Billion Hedge Fund Has Been Buying (Fool)
Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they’ve bought and sold, via “13F” filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks. Today let’s look at Farallon Capital Management, founded by Thomas Steyer in 1986, and employing a bottom-up fundamental investing strategy. …The biggest new holdings are Virgin Media and Constellation Brands. Other new holdings of interest include Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SNSS ) , which has many investors hopeful about the phase 3 trials of its leukemia drug vosaroxin, which could be a blockbuster.
CQS plans equity hedge fund launch (Reuters)
Hedge fund firm CQS is planning to launch its first so-called long-short equities fund, a source familiar with the plans said, as it looks to seize on a recovery in investor demand for managers who bet on shares both rising and falling. London-based CQS, which manages $12 billion in assets, already invests in equities as part of its flagship Directional Opportunities fund, but is best known for playing in credit markets. The rally in stocks this year has encouraged hedge fund investors to return to funds betting on shares. According to a survey by Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) published in March, long-short equity funds are the most sought-after hedge fund investments in 2013.
Hedge Fund Boss Preying on African-Americans Arrested (CNBC)
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” Those were the words that Fredrick Douglas Scott attached to most of the emails sent to the clients of his boutique investment banking and financial advisory firm, ACI Capital. What the clients didn’t realize was that the joke was on them, according to federal prosecutors. In addition to being one of Ebony magazine’s “Top 30 under 30” and claiming to be the youngest African-American to found a hedge fund, Fredrick Douglas Scott was a fraudster, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The complaint was unsealed Tuesday after Scott was arrested.
