Hedge Fund News: Millennium Adds $300 M, Universa Returns 23%, Covepoint Falls 38%, Volcker Rule

Millennium Management Adds $300m in Assets This Month (Opalesque)

Millennium Management has just received $300m of new assets this month, making the total assets under management (AuM) acquired so far this year $4.3bn – and increasing the firm’s total assets to around $13bn, people familiar with the fund told Opalesque.

Universa Returning 23% (Bloomberg)

This year, as markets retreated, Spitznagel’s team collected gains of 20 to 25 percent through August for its 11 sovereign-wealth-fund and institutional clients, whose investments are run in separate partnerships and managed accounts.

Covepoint Capital Fell 38% in September (Bloomberg)

Covepoint Capital Advisors LLC, the hedge fund founded by Melissa Ko, fell 38 percent in September, posting its biggest monthly loss after sticking with a bet that emerging-market currencies would gain against the U.S. dollar.

Hermes Says Commodities Outlook Good (Bloomberg)

Corn, wheat and gold will beat other raw materials this quarter as crop yields drop and Europe’s debt crisis stokes demand for bullion, said David Hemming, who helps oversee a fund that returned 20 times the average this year. Corn may rally 18 percent to $7.25 a bushel, wheat may climb 18 percent to $7.50 a bushel and gold may gain 12 percent to $1,850 an ounce by December, said the London-based fund manager for Hermes Investment Management Ltd.

Volcker Rule to Prohibit Banks Investment in Hedge Funds (IBT)

A draft proposal of the Volcker rule that cracks down on banks’ proprietary trading gives firms flexibility to hedge risk, and sets stringent limits on such trading beyond U.S. borders to address fears the rule will put U.S. firms at a disadvantage.

Citigroup Sues Over Saudi Family Claim of Gross Hedge Fund Misconduct (Bloomberg)

The Abbars said their family was lured to Citigroup in 2006 after their Deutsche Bank AG banker moved to Citi Private Bank Geneva. The Abbars put $343 million of their hedge fund investment assets into a leveraged option swap transaction to which Citigroup’s London affiliate was a last-minute counterparty, a move designed to shield the bank from U.S. regulatory and legal obligations, according to the claim.

‘Tiger Cub’ Seeks Money for China Hedge Fund (Businessweek)

Kelusa Capital Group, a New York- based manager backed by Julian Robertson, plans to increase the size of its China hedge fund almost five times to $250 million after outperforming the nation’s stocks. Kelusa Capital China, which focuses on the world’s second- largest economy and has assets of about $55 million, gained more than 7 percent this year through September, said Kenton Leo, the founding partner of the fund, which is run out of Singapore.

SEC Files Charges Against Corey Ribotsky and his NIR Group (Long Island Business News)