Why Is This $150 Billion Hedge Fund Buying Gold Stocks? (Fool)
Bridgewater Associates — founded by Ray Dalio, who famously predicted the global financial crisis in 2007 — is a $150 billion hedge fund with a wide spectrum of institutional clients, including central banks, pension funds, foreign governments, foundations, and endowments. In 2012 and 2013 Bridgewater, earned clients more than any other hedge fund in history. In 2011, while most hedge funds lost money, Bridgewater returned 23%. …In fact, Bridgewater increased its holdings in Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) by 80%, as reported in Bridgewater’s 13F filing for the last quarter of 2013.
‘Black Swan’ Firm Readies Australia-Focused Hedge Fund (Finalternatives)
Tail-risk specialist 36 South Capital Advisors is returning to its roots—or near them, at least—with a new “black swan” hedge fund for Australian investors. The London-based firm, which got its start in New Zealand before moving to the British capital in 2009, plans to launch its Kohinoor Pacific Fund on April 1. The new vehicle has been seeded by an Australian institutional investor. 36 South said the time was right to launch such a fund, with volatility protection currently cheap. The vehicle will buy long-based options across asset classes, with up to 30% of assets dedicated to strategies designed specifically to protect against volatility in Australian markets.
Morgan Stanley, Commodities Hedge Fund Settle (Finalternatives)
The dispute between Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Peak Ridge Capital Group has come to a negotiated conclusion. Morgan Stanley said it has settled the litigation between it and the commodities hedge fund, which it had sued in 2010, accusing Peak Ridge of saddling it with more than $40.6 million in losses on bad natural-gas bets after the hedge fund missed a margin call. Peak Ridge shot back with a countersuit, accusing Morgan Stanley of mishandling its trades and wrongfully seizing them after “arbitrarily and capriciously” imposing new margin requirements.
Hedge-funder Scott Bommer to pay $94M for Hamptons site (TheRealDeal)
Scott Bommer, founder of hedge fund SAB Capital, is in contract to acquire three East Hampton parcels for $93.9 million. If the purchase goes through, it would be one of the all-time priciest deals in the Hamptons market. The prospective deal arrives on the heels of Bommer’s $75 million purchase of the 14.5-acre Wooldon Manor last year from fashion mogul Vince Camuto. That acquisition was officially the priciest one in the Hamptons for the year. Bommer has already listed Wooldon Manor for $98 million, with Tim Davis of the Corcoran Group and Sothebys (NYSE:BID) International Realty brokers Harald Grant and Ed Petrie, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Blue Sky to acquire $70m hedge fund (TheAustralian)
Brisbane-based Blue Sky, which has about $400m in funds under management, said it would acquire all of Adelaide-based Investment Science’s shares and retain the hedge fund’s “key personnel”. The transaction will have to be approved at a meeting of Blue Sky shareholders next month. “There are pockets of talent everywhere,” Blue Sky managing director Mark Sowerby told Data Room. “We’ve known these guys for a while.” Investment Science was co-founded in 2007 by former Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) analyst Simon Kitson and David Toohey, who worked at Funds SA…
Canada Pension Plan to Acquire Wilton Re for $1.8 Billion (BusinessWeek)
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the nation’s largest pension fund manager, agreed to buy Wilton Re Holdings Ltd. for $1.8 billion to expand into the life insurance business. The reinsurer is being acquired from investors including Stone Point Capital, Kelso & Co. and Vestar Capital Partners Inc., the Toronto-based fund manager said today in a statement. The purchase is Canada Pension’s first direct investment in the insurance sector.
