Paul Singer’s Elliott International Hedge Fund Up 11.8% in 2013 (Wall Street Journal)
Hedge-fund manager Paul Singer turned in another steady year of performance in 2013, according to a monthly investor update. Mr. Singer’s flagship Elliott International Ltd. rose 11.8% last year. The fund, which hasn’t reported a negative month in a year and a half, gained 0.9% in December and 2.5% in the fourth quarter. The smaller Elliott Associates LP, with a strategy of focusing on distressed credit similar to the main fund, climbed 12.4% last year. The Elliott Associates fund rose 0.9% in December and 2.6% in the final quarter of 2013, according to the update.
Glenview’s Robbins Tops Hedge-Fund Ranking With Bet on Obamacare (San Francisco Chronicle)
Larry Robbins’ corporate handicapping helped his $1.8 billion Glenview Capital Opportunity Fund to an 84.2 percent gain through Oct. 31, which made it No. 1 in the annual Bloomberg Markets ranking of the best-performing large hedge funds. Robbins, 44, chief executive officer of Glenview Capital Management LLC, trounced his rivals by betting on U.S. stocks as they rose to record levels, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its February issue. He’s predicting at least another year of gains, while other managers fret and hold cash. “The current environment is opportunity heavy, and it’s return heavy,” Robbins says in an interview at his offices in the General Motors Building on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
TCI has record year – but this time charity won’t benefit (Telegraph.co.uk)
The hedge fund manager, Chris Hohn, has made billions of dollars after a record year – but, for the first time since founding The Children’s Investment (TCI), his charity may not see a penny of the profit. TCI’s flagship $7.9bn (£4.8bn) Master Fund generated a 47pc return during 2013 – among the best performances of any hedge fund in the world – from investments in companies including Royal Mail. Mr Hohn, who is the biggest shareholder in the newly privatised delivery group, set up TCI in 2003 so that the majority of its annual profits were automatically channelled into the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the charity run by his wife, Jamie Cooper Hohn.
Hedge Funds Trail Stocks for Fifth Year With 7.4% Return (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds trailed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) for the fifth straight year as U.S. markets rallied to record levels. Hedge funds returned an average of 7.4 percent in 2013, after a gain of less than 0.1 percent in December. The Bloomberg Hedge Funds Aggregate Index is down 1.8 percent from its July 2007 peak. The index is weighted by market capitalization and tracks 2,257 funds, 1,264 of which have reported returns for December. Funds lagged behind the S&P 500 by 23 percentage points last year, the most since 2005, as the U.S. benchmark surged 30 percent for its best performance since 1997. Hedge funds fell short of investor expectations as clients targeted net returns of 9.2 percent from their investments in 2013, according to a Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) 2013 investor survey.
Carmignac Snaps Up Four-Man Team from SAC Capital (Wall Street Journal)
Four more London-based SAC Capital Advisors hedge-fund employees have landed jobs, this time to oversee some €1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) in European equities for the Carmignac Gestion Group. The team is led by Muhammed Yesilhark, who joined SAC in 2009 after working at U.S. hedge-fund firm York Capital Management and, before that, as an investment analyst in Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ).’s Frankfurt office. Carmignac Gestion, based in France with offices throughout Europe, oversees some €55 billion euros in 17 funds, according to its Web site. Carmignac Gestion announced the moves Tuesday, saying the SAC team will help increase its European-equities business, and they new hires will generate investment ideas across a wide range of funds.
Another Bloodbath for 3D Printing Stocks (Wall Street Sector Selector)
Monday brought another bloodbath for 3D printing stocks. We saw the same thing happen on November 20 when the Seeking Alpha website published an article by Richard Pearson, which underscored the complete disregard of fundamentals by those who have sent 3D printing stocks soaring on more enthusiasm than data. On Monday, the article came from hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson of Kase Capital who specifically targeted 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) and pointed out that – among other things – the stock was trading at 63 times next year’s earnings estimates. The ugly truth about DDD applies to all 3D printing stocks: Their price/earnings ratios – to the extent that they can even be calculated – are stratospheric.
New Hedge Fund Administrator Helps Managers Meet The Demands Of An Evolving Marketplace (Sacramento Bee)
Gemini Fund Services, LLC (Gemini), an engaged partner to independent advisors as a provider of comprehensive, pooled investment solutions, announces an expanded range of services for hedge fund clients. Its parent, NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC (NorthStar), has launched a hedge fund administration unit, Gemini Hedge Fund Services, LLC (Gemini Hedge), as a new subsidiary. Gemini Hedge is a complete provider of customized and adaptable solutions for hedge fund managers, assisting with middle- and back-office duties, financial reporting and investor services. The business also offers high tech, high touch services for managers requiring frequent liquidity and enhanced reporting capabilities as well as access to distribution channels to help launch and distribute hedge funds.
No Barbarians at the Gate; Instead, a Force for Change (CNBC.com)
It’s no longer an insult to be called an activist investor. Once painted as greedy corporate raiders, they would amass large stakes in a company and, through brute force, push for changes in the company’s leadership and business practices. They reveled in their image of attacking the fortress of corporate America. Now, some three decades later, their efforts have become more sophisticated and they are often seen as a good thing, shaking up companies too entrenched in their ways. The beneficiaries of this new attitude are activist hedge fund managers like David Einhorn and Daniel S. Loeb, who last year rattled the corporate boards of some of America’s biggest and best-known companies. They are beginning the new year with swelling coffers and more public support than ever before.
Aussie hedge fund manager raves about Xero’s potential (New Zealand Herald)
An Australian hedge fund manager has raved about the potential for accountancy software company Xero and accused New Zealand fund managers of being “precious petals” for wanting the stock removed from the sharemarket’s NZX 50 index. Writing in his popular blog on Monday, Bronte Capital’s John Hempton said he first heard about Xero from a top US technology executive and bought a small parcel of shares. He next heard of it from a woman linked with the Government’s Superannuation Fund who was lamenting the performance of its Kiwi fund managers for not investing in Xero.
A Look Inside SAC’s Steven A. Cohen’s Lavish Lifestyle (TIME)
Steven A. Cohen is a legendary Wall Street trader who amassed a $9 billion fortune while building a reputation as one of the most successful hedge fund managers of his generation. For years, SAC Capital consistently delivered returns of 30% or more to its clients. This week, one of Cohen’s former traders, Mathew Martoma, goes on trial in what the feds call the most lucrative insider trading scheme in U.S. history. On Tuesday, the PBS investigative program FRONTLINE will air a film based on months of reporting about SAC and Cohen. FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith and his team — the same journalists responsible for the acclaimed documentary Money, Power and Wall Street — are back with a new film.
