Tudor Just Picked Up Some Exposure To Loathed Emerging Markets (Barrons)
There aren’t many broad market exposures more distrusted right now than emerging markets. So: Are we about to see a stampede of hedge funds? Tudor Investment Corp., the hedge-fund firm run by Paul Tudor Jones, picked up 2.8 million shares of iShares Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) during the quarter ending Sept. 30. The firm also disclosed call options to buy another 10.8 million shares of the ETF. Take the disclosure with a grain of salt. We don’t even know for certain whether a manager is “long” a stock or fund, since 13-F filings don’t disclose every type of security the manager owns. But it would be in keeping with a contrarian view that seems to be getting more traction.
Not going anywhere for the foreseeable future: FedEx CEO Fred Smith (CNBC)
FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) CEO Fred Smith told CNBC on Friday that he doesn’t plan on leaving the company in the near future, despite the recent introduction of controversial and activist hedge fund manager Dan Loeb as a major shareholder in his company. “Well the clock ticks on,” Smith said on “Squawk Box.” “We are are mortal, but I don’t plan on going anyplace in the near future.” Loeb, who has become known for writing acerbic letters to CEOs of companies in which he invests, revealed on CNBC this Tuesday that he bought a large stake in FedEx and met with Smith last week.
Paulson Raises Merger Bets by Adding to Vodafone, T-Mobile Stake (SFGate)
Paulson & Co., the $18 billion hedge-fund firm run by billionaire John Paulson, increased its stake in Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) in a bet the phone company may be a takeover target. Paulson & Co., which is based in New York, added 17 million American depositary receipts of Vodafone last quarter, bringing its holding to 20 million ADRs valued at $703.6 million as of Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The firm also raised its stake in T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS), adding 2.76 million shares and bringing the total value of its holding to $504.7 million.
Hedge funds and equity managers invest in Third Point Re (Artemis)
Institutional hedge fund and equity investment managers have taken stakes in Bermuda-based reinsurer Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. The hedge-fund type reinsurer clearly resonates with large hedge funds such as Citadel and equity focused managers like Cambiar, both of which hold large stakes. Citadel LLC, a large hedge fund owned by investor Ken Griffin, with around $17 billion of assets, owned 2.12 million shares at the end of September, valued at around $30.7 million. Citadel previously had its own catastrophe reinsurance-linked vehicles, such as CIG Re founded in 2004 and New Castle Re founded in 2005, and clearly continues to find the reinsurance strategy attractive.
SEC Charges Hedge Fund Trader With Insider Trading in Carter’s Stock (NewsRoomAmerica)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced insider trading charges against a New York-based investment professional who used nonpublic information about youth clothing company Carter’s Inc. to give the hedge fund where he worked a $3.2 million trading edge. The SEC alleges that Mark Megalli obtained the inside information through a consulting agreement he had with the former vice president of investor relations at Carter’s, Eric Martin, who the SEC has previously charged among several others in its investigation into insider trading of Carter’s stock.
Returning to Japan, hedge funds bet this time is different (Reuters)
Japan, a frustration for the world’s sharpest hedge fund minds for more than a decade, is proving one of the industry’s biggest winners this year. Big names from New York to London have made billions betting that “Abenomics” – the monetary stimulus programme launched under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – would send the yen sliding and stocks surging. And funds dedicated to Japanese markets have performed better than others – their percentage return on investments is more than triple the overall hedge fund average this year, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.
Leon Cooperman’s Q3 moves (CNBC)
