Conservation philanthropist Louis Bacon receives Land Trust Alliance President’s Award (BahamaIslandsInfo)
Declaring that his “bold actions were inspiring others to protect and steward their lands,” the Land Trust Alliance this week presented one of its highest and rarest honours to philanthropic conservationist Louis Bacon. Mr. Bacon was presented with Land Trust Alliance President’s Award for Conservation Leadership September 18 in recognition of what the Alliance called his “lifelong passion for land conservation, his accomplishments with The Moore Charitable Foundation, and his move to permanently protect more than 210,000 acres of his own land.
Short Seller James Chanos Targets China’s Casino Industry (NewsWeek)
Famed investor James Chanos is increasingly training his sceptical eye — and multibillion-dollar war chest — on China’s casino industry. Chanos, a household name on Wall Street who runs Kynikos Associates, a prominent hedge fund in New York, told a conference last April in California that he was increasingly concerned about bribery and corruption in Macau, a Chinese territory that is home to the world’s largest legal gambling and casino business. While he had once wagered that stocks of big American gaming companies with significant operations in the territory would rise, a position known as being “long,” he had recently changed his mind about Macau’s — and China’s — economic and financial prospects.
High Time For A Cannabis Hedge Fund? (Finalternatives)
Launching a hedge fund is always a gamble, but Leslie Bocskor’s decision to launch one focused on the legal cannabis space actually began with a trip to the casino. “I was doing some research on online gaming and what would happen to the casino industry when we saw online really take hold,” Bocskor told FINalternatives’ in a recent phone interview. “And so, of course, if you are looking at the casino industry in any form, where do you go? Las Vegas.” Bocskor, whose background is in corporate finance and investment banking, moved with his wife from New York to Las Vegas while he researched the casino industry; they liked the city and stayed.
Santander ‘follows the money’ with hedge fund strategy switch (eFinancialNews)
The Santander UK Group Pension Scheme has made a $100 million commitment to Dyal Capital Partners, a Neuberger Berman-owned fund founded in 2010, whose strategy is to buy minority stakes in hedge funds. Santander stopped allocating assets to hedge fund managers in early 2013, believing they were too small to make a financial difference to the fund. Antony Barker, head of pensions at Santander, said: “We’ve largely divested the hedge funds we had, but reinvested the capital in the equity of hedge fund managers, one of the first European pension funds to do so I believe. Following the money as it were.”
Alpine hedge-fund founder cracks list of Forbes 400 richest people in U.S. (NorthJersey)
Five of Forbes magazine’s 400 richest people in the United States live in New Jersey, including one from Alpine who made the list for the first time. Larry Robbins, 44, is ranked 374th on the annual Forbes list. The hedge-fund manager is the founder of Glenview Capital Management and is worth $1.71 billion. The wealthiest New Jersey resident is hedge-fund manager David Tepper, 57, of Livingston, who was 45th with a net worth of $10 billion. Tepper runs Appaloosa Management. Donald Newhouse, 84, is the second-richest New Jersey resident on the Forbes list, coming in at 51st with a net worth of $8.7 billion.
