Louis Bacon’s Moore Capital still sizzles despite Wizard exit (Standard)
Louis Bacon’s $15 billion (£9.3 billion) hedge fund Moore Capital boosted profits in its Mayfair office last year despite the loss of star fund manager Greg Coffey. Tory Party donor Bacon saw his European arm generate profits of £36.4 million in 2013, according to a filing at Companies House, with turnover from fees up from £95 million to £140.2 million. Bacon, 58, founded Moore Capital in 1989 after a career on Wall Street and rose to prominence after making a number of successful financial bets linked to the first Gulf War.
Hedge funds slip in September but stock funds fall more (Reuters)
Hedge funds finally have a little something to brag about, losing less money in September than the average mutual stock fund manager, according to data released on Tuesday. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index, a widely watched performance gauge for the $3 trillion global hedge fund industry, slipped 0.4 percent in September, a month when the S&P 500 index fell 1.4 percent. The average U.S. stock mutual fund manager lost 2.92 percent, Lipper data showed. For months, hedge funds have come under fire for delivering lackluster returns as the broader stock market climbed and for charging hefty fees for middling results…
Hong Kong Protest Exceeds Fund Manager’s Wildest Dream (BusinessWeek)
Hong Kong hedge-fund manager and pro-democracy activist Edward Chin says that the scale of student protests that exploded in the city from Sept. 28 exceeded his “wildest dreams.” “I just expected 10,000 people sitting at Chater Garden,” Chin said in an interview this week, referring to plans by the Occupy Central With Love and Peace group. Instead, crowds swelled to as many as 200,000, according to protest leaders. Chin, 46, is one of a group of finance professionals who published open letters to Chinese President Xi Jinping supporting Occupy Central and urging genuine universal suffrage.
Why Northwest Bio Is Shunned by Savvy Health Care Investors (TheStreet)
Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein accused me — falsely — of working with short-selling hedge funds to manipulate stock prices and force small biotech companies like Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:NWBO) out of business. I’ve been a professional business journalist for 25 years, the last 13 years writing about often-crazy and never-boring biotech stocks for TheStreet. I’m accustomed to the controversy that comes with being an opinionated columnist in a volatile sector. TheStreet rebutted Pearlstein’s column so I won’t rehash details, but it raised one glaring question that went unanswered:
Sandler Buys At Ultra-Luxurous N.Y.C. Building (Finalternatives)
A hedge-fund manager has rewarded an investor in Manhattan’s tallest and (arguably) most luxurious apartment tower with a hefty profit. Sandler Capital Management founder Harvey Sandler and his wife have dropped $34 million for a 58th-floor unit bought by Sso Enterprises for $30.55 million just five months ago. Still, Sandler can argue that he got a deal on the 4,483-square-foot pied à terre at One57, which had been listed for $40 million. Sandler’s new home has three bedrooms, five marble-clad bathrooms and panoramic views.
Qalaa’s new structure is ‘the right strategy’: Founder (CNBC)
Top-Performing China Hedge Fund Exceeds $1 Billion in Assets (BusinessWeek)
Golden China Fund, the best-performing hedge fund investing in the nation over 10 years, exceeded $1 billion in assets for the first time with bets on financial, real estate and technology stocks. The fund, managed by Greenwoods Asset Management Ltd. founder George Jiang, had $1.1 billion in assets at the end of August, said Joseph Zeng, Hong Kong (700) office head of the Shanghai-based company. The first time it crossed the $1 billion mark on a month-end basis was in July, he added. Golden China Fund is bucking the trend among hedge funds investing in Chinese stocks that are heading for the worst performance in three years as a slowing economy is depressing stock-market returns.
Eddie Lampert And His Hedge Fund Have Lost A Combined $US236 Million On Sears Today (BusinessInsider)
Shares of retailer Sears got pummelled on a Bloomberg News’ report that a “medium sized” vendor had halted shipments. The stock was last trading down 15% at about $US25.72 per share. This is more bad news for billionaire hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert. Lampert — who runs Florida based ESL Investments and is the chairman/CEO of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) — has spent years trying to turnaround the beleaguered big-box retailer. Lampert is also the largest individual shareholder the retailer. So far, the investment has been a disaster.
Paul Singer’s Hedge Fund Pushes Technology Giant EMC to Break Up (NYTimes)
Elliott Management, the activist hedge fund that owns 2.2 percent of the technology giant EMC, is calling for the $57 billion company to break itself apart. In a letter addressed to EMC’s chief executive, Joe Tucci, and the board, Elliott criticized the company for being overly complex and suggested selling off a range of assets. Should EMC follow Elliott’s advice, it would join a wave of big companies, including Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), that are breaking themselves apart, bowing to investor pressure.
Sorin Capital Hires SAC Vet Riddell (Finalternatives)
Sorin Capital Management has hired Marci Lauren Riddell as vice president of business development. Riddell joins Sorin from Optima Fund Management where she was a marketing professional. Prior to Optima, she worked at SAC. Capital Advisors (now Point72 Asset Management). In her new role at Sorin, Riddell’s responsibilities will include marketing and investor relations activities. She will report to another former SAC marketing professional, Chris Rae, who joined Sorin last month as managing director and head of business development.
CalPERS’s Move to Ditch Hedge Funds Doesn’t Signal Their End (InstitutionalInvestor)
Dan Och, chairman and CEO of hedge fund firm Och-Ziff Capital Management, earned $400 million in 2013 – more than 10,000 times the pension payout for the average California public retiree. With public pensions across America underfunded, beneficiaries facing the prospect of cuts and pension reform playing a major role in many U.S. elections, plans’ investment practices face growing scrutiny. Much of that attention is falling on hedge funds.
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