Hedge fund manager Winton Capital making headway with long-only strategy (PIOnline)
North American investors are helping Winton Capital Management Ltd. make progress — albeit slowly — toward its founder’s goal of becoming a $100 billion company. …Winton Capital managed $25.5 billion as of June 30. The vast majority of the assets are in lucrative managed futures hedge funds for investors that include the $130 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas, Austin; the £15.6 billion ($26.7 billion) Pension Protection Fund, London; the A$96.6 billion (U.S. $90.9 billion) Australian Future Fund, Melbourne; and the $23 billion Texas County & District Retirement System, Austin.
Hedge funds used ‘dubious’ means to bypass tax rules, senators say (TheGuardian)
More than a dozen hedge funds, with assistance of Barclays and Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB), used “dubious” financial products to claim billions in unjustified tax savings and circumvent rules meant to limit risky bets, a Senate subcommittee investigation has found. The Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations (PSI) released a report on its investigations on Monday, before a hearing on Tuesday. The PSI has been investigating a series of tax avoidance schemes by companies including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT).
Griffin ‘Can’t See’ Political Run As Ex-Titan Exec. Seeks Nashville Mayoralty (Finalternatives)
Hedge-fund heavyweight Kenneth Griffin has no political ambitions, but another industry veteran is hoping to lead his hometown. The Citadel Investment Group founder has played an outsized role in this year’s gubernatorial campaign in Illinois, donating more than $3.5 million to Republican challenger Bruce Rauner. The contributions include the state’s single-largest ever, a $2.5 million check cut last month. But Griffin said he expects that giving—and giving generously—is as far as he’ll go in politics.
Napier Park nears independence as Citigroup withdraws capital (FT)
Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)’s $6bn hedge fund spin-off Napier Park took a further step towards independence on Tuesday as the US bank removed the last remnants of proprietary capital invested in its funds. Citi started its $2.4bn redemption schedule in March last year as the bank sought to comply with the Volcker rule, which bans proprietary trading as well as sponsoring or retaining ownership interest in a hedge fund or private equity fund. “It’s a major milestone for us,” Jim O’Brien, senior managing partner of Napier Park told the Financial Times. “It confirms the viability of the business.”
Cash Crops With Dividends: Financiers Transforming Strawberries Into Securities (NYTimes)
His boots were caked with mud when Thomas S. T. Gimbel, a longtime hedge fund executive, slipped in a strawberry patch. It was the plumpness of a strawberry that had distracted him. Mr. Gimbel, who once headed the hedge fund division of Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), now spends more time discussing crop yields than stock or bond yields. He is the man on the ground for a group of investors — including New York’s biggest real estate dynasty, two Florida sugar barons and the founder of a multibillion-dollar investment firm — who have been buying up farms across the United States through a real estate investment trust called the American Farmland Company.
