Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Ray Dalio Is Back, All Weather Fund Up 11% (Forbes)
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio is the king of the rich hedge fund industry. He runs the biggest hedge fund outfit in the world, Bridgewater Associates, a firm with $150 billion under management that Dalio founded in 1975. So far, Dalio’s having a pretty good year following a challenging two-year stretch. Dalio’s key All Weather Fund has returned 11.16% this year through June, according to an investment report reviewed by Forbes. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index returned 6.05% over the same time period. The All Weather fund is up 17.01% in the last 12 months.
Playing hedge funds with public money (Economist)
LISTEN here, voters, I’ve got a great deal for you. I’m sure you are all aware of the legendary financial acumen of public officials. So here is the deal. We are going to go into the business of hedge funds. My team and I are going to borrow money and invest it in the markets. The profits will roll in. It seems unlikely that this pitch would appeal to much of the electorate. But in effect that is what they have agreed to in those states and cities that have issed pension obligation bonds (POBs). When I first heard of POBs, I could not quite believe they were allowed; this is not something that would be done in Britain. But as a new report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College explains, POBs have been around for nearly 30 years.
Emerging-Market Specialist Plans Fund (HFAlert)
An emerging-market analyst whose resume includes stints at Brookside Capital and SAC Capital is setting up his own hedge fund operation. Tong Zhao recently founded Formic Management of New York with plans to launch a long/short equity fund by Oct. 1. The vehicle will invest in emerging-market stocks as well as global blue chips with “defining emerging-market drivers.” Zhao, who is chief investment officer, is assisted by research and operations chief Nicolas Walters. The two met about 10 years ago while studying at the University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently worked together at SAC. Zhao went on to take an analyst job at Brookside, a unit of Bain Capital, while Walters subsequently worked at Indus Capital and businesses controlled by Europe’s Rothschild family.
After Years of Stock Market Optimisim, Odey Turns Pessimistic (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
Odey Asset Management’s Crispin Odey has turned sharply bearish in recent months. The London-based hedge fund manager is now slightly net short in his flagship equity hedge fund after maintaining net exposure to the markets of between 80 percent and 120 percent since March 2009. “Recent moves in markets have highlighted how tired this bull market has got,” Odey Asset Management tells clients of the Odey European fund in its May report, obtained by Alpha.
This Forgotten Commodity Could Triple Your Money (Fool)
Over the past few months, a number of hedge funds have quietly accumulated massive positions in a forgotten part of the Canadian resource sector. According to industry insiders, a shortage of this essential commodity is almost inevitable. Many analysts project that prices will double or triple within two years. Now their bets are paying off. Supplies are beginning to tighten and investors who appreciate the scope of this opportunity could make triple-digit gains over the next 24 to 36 months. …Uranium stocks have been left for dead. Following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011, a number of countries announced plans to cut or eliminate their nuclear power programs and uranium prices have been in the dumps ever since.
SEC will aggressively scrutinise firms taking advantage of JOBS Act (COOConnect)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will rigorously scrutinise the internal workings and compliance standards at private funds taking advantage of the liberalised marketing and advertising rules as mandated under the JOBS Act. “The SEC was not thrilled at the prospect of private funds’ engaging in general solicitation. If you decide to engage in general solicitation, you should expect to be rigorously examined by the SEC staff. If a fund manager is going to rely on the Rule 506(c) safe harbour, then it must ensure that all its I’s are dotted and T’s crossed otherwise the SEC will be all over you,” said Cary Meer, partner at K&L Gates in Washington DC, speaking at the law firm’s ninth annual investment management conference in London.
