Einhorn’s advice to investors: don’t take my advice (Reuters)
David Einhorn, one of the most closely followed managers in the $2 trillion hedge fund industry, had some blunt advice on Wednesday for his fellow investors: Do your own homework. Einhorn, this year’s star attraction at the Sohn Investment Conference, an annual confab where the industry’s top investors share their favorite trade ideas, wrapped up his presentation by offering some words of warning about his public comments. “It doesn’t make sense to blindly follow me or anyone else into a stock,” said Einhorn, president and co-founder of the $8.8 billion hedge fund Greenlight Capital. “Do your own work.”
Allen Partners offers local knowledge for hedge funds chasing super funds (Opalesque)
Neil Power is the new head of hedge fund advisory at Allen Partners in Sydney, a firm that knows where the money is in the Australian institutional sector and what it wants to invest in. Founded in 2009 by three senior professionals from the asset management and alternative assets industries, Allen Partners seeks to address the growing need for foreign asset managers to be appropriately represented in Australia and New Zealand and to successfully raise capital in these markets. Founder Craig Gribble was head of private equity in New Zealand for Merrill Lynch while Chairman Ken Allen established Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers investment banking divisions in Australia and was also consulate general to New York from 2001 to 2006.
Japanese hedge funds lead Asian hedge fund capital to five-year high (HedgeWeek)
Investors increased allocations to Asian hedge funds in 1Q13 as stimulus measures, quantitative easing and increased bond purchases by the Bank of Japan drove gains across both Japanese equities and the HFRX Japan Index. Total Asia-focused hedge fund capital increased by 7.6 per cent in 1Q13 to nearly USD95bn (JPY9.4trn), reaching the highest level since Asian hedge fund capital peaked in 2007, according to the latest HFR Asian Hedge Fund Industry Report, published by HFR. Investors allocated over USD1.3bn in net new capital to Asian hedge funds in 1Q13, the largest quarterly inflow since 3Q11, as the total number of Asian hedge funds increased to more than 1,150.
BNY Mellon Named Best Large Hedge Fund Administrator by HFMWeek for Second Year in a Row (BobsGuide)
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK), the global leader in investment management and investment services, has been named ‘Best administrator over $30bn – single manager’ for the second year running at the HFMWeek European Hedge Fund Services Awards, presented in London on April 25. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) was one of six industry-leading companies to be nominated for the honour as part of the 2013 awards, which recognise firms that have outperformed their peer group over the last 12 months. Companies are judged both quantitatively and qualitatively, based on financial progress, growth, and innovation across a number of areas.
CoA throws out £400m Northern Rock appeal (TheLawyer)
Brick Court Chambers’ Mark Howard QC has been successful in knocking out an attempt to force the Northern Rock to pay compensation to shareholders who lost out when the bank was nationalised in 2008. The ruling gives victory to Mayer Brown partner Stuart Pickford who instructed Howard. The Court of Appeal (CoA) today rejected a challenge by Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners to the Independent Valuer of Northern Rock, Andrew Caldwell, who determined that there was no value in the shares at the point when the bank was nationalised.
‘Rottweiler’s’ Toscafund shows its bite with 68% leap (Standard)
The London hedge fund run by “Rottweiler” Martin Hughes, Toscafund Asset Management, enjoyed an upturn in its fortunes last year as profits rose 68%. The company, founded by the former banking analyst in 2000, posted profits of £7.9 million before paying out bonuses and profit share, compared with £4.7 million in 2011. Turnover was up from £8.9 million to £11.9 million.
Greenlight Capital exits “profitable” MBIA short: letter (Reuters)
Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn told his investors that the hedge fund closed its longstanding “short” position in bond insurer MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) in the first quarter. Einhorn, in an investor letter which was reviewed by Reuters and which an investor said was distributed Wednesday night, called MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) the “third most profitable short position” in Greenlight’s history. A short is a bet that a stock will fall in price. Greenlight had been shorting MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) “in some capacity” since 2002 and rode the stock down from $76 to $2 a share, where it bottomed out in 2009, according to the letter. Shares of MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) have since rebounded to $15.85.
