Hedge Fund Nomad Turns Art Dealer, Opens Her Gallery in London (BusinessWeek)
Born in Pakistan, Kashya Hildebrand spent 19 years working on Wall Street before starting anew as an art dealer in Geneva. In keeping with a life she characterizes as nomadic, she’s now moving her gallery to London from Zurich. Hildebrand, 52, was a partner at the hedge fund Moore Capital Management LLC in New York until 2000. It was there she met her husband, Philipp Hildebrand, who quit as president of the Swiss National Bank last year. He resigned under political pressure after dollar purchases made by his wife three weeks before the SNB imposed a currency cap.
Ex-banker faces off against China bears with U.S. hedge fund (Reuters)
Paul Conway’s eventful career in China included advising companies on stock offerings and overseeing a messy business restructuring — the latter stint forcing him to hire a bodyguard to fend off harassment from local thugs. Now the 43-year-old former banker is raising around $60 million for a hedge fund that will invest in U.S.-listed, Chinese companies, another assignment that many would consider not for the faint-hearted after a series of accounting scandals that have battered sentiment towards the sector since 2010.
Hedge Fund President Steps Down To Focus On Nonprofit (TCBMag)
Jonathan Wood, president and chief operating officer (COO) of Minneapolis-based hedge fund firm Whitebox Advisors, is stepping down from his role to focus on a local charity that he recently launched. Wood has spent 12 years at Whitebox, and he plans to leave his role by the end of this year. He will remain on the firm’s board of directors and “retain his economic interest in Whitebox,” Andy Redleaf, the firm’s CEO, wrote in a recent letter to investors.
The Stocks George Soros Keeps Buying (Forbes)
George Soros has the best investing record ever at his former Quantum Fund, and continues to invest to this day. While Soros is a value-oriented investor, he also applies the philosophy of reflexivity to choose which stocks people are mispricing out of emotional reactions and identify bubbles. …His top five positions make up only 13% of his portfolio. They are: Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT). Soros, however, has been building positions in several companies over time. The positions he keeps adding to are: Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD), EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT), Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) and Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS).
Short Term, Markets Are Oversold: Marc Faber (CNBC)
In the midst of market volatility on concerns over Federal Reserve tapering, a variety of asset classes have sold off too much and could present a near-term investment opportunity, notorious bear Marc Faber told CNBC. “Treasury bonds, gold and equity markets are oversold in the near-term and they can rebound for the next ten days or even the next month,” Faber, the author of “The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report,” said on Tuesday. Also known as “Dr. Doom,” Faber said that new highs in emerging markets were unlikely and did not see any buying opportunities in emerging markets, yet.
Miners’ writedowns top $17-billion as Roubini sees gold dropping to $1,000 (FinancialPost)
Newcrest Mining Ltd.’s decision to write down the value of its mines by as much as A$6 billion ($5.5 billion) will lead to the biggest one-time charge in gold mining history. It also heralds pain for competitors. Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX), the world’s biggest producer, Newmont Mining Corp. and Gold Fields Ltd. may be next, according to Jefferies International Ltd. Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics and international business at New York University and known as Dr. Doom for predicting turmoil before the global financial crisis began in 2008, says gold may drop to $1,000 an ounce by 2015, from $1,284.50 now.
Hedge Funds’ Top Stocks Faring Worse Than the Market (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
A large majority of the most popular stocks held by hedge funds are getting hit more than the market as a whole during the current sharp sell-off. According to an analysis by Institutional Investor’s Alpha , more than two-thirds of the 20 stocks that most frequently appeared among the largest ten holdings of hedge funds at the end of the first quarter have fallen more steeply than the S&P 500 since May 15. That’s the day most investors were able to identify these holdings from the 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and invest in this group of stocks. May 15 is also a good starting point because the market closed that day just shy of its peak of 1,669, reached just four trading days later.
