Citrone’s Funds Take March Beating (Finalternatives)
Hedge fund billionaire Robert Citrone was probably glad to turn the calendar page after a brutal March for his flagship funds. Citrone’s Discovery Global Opportunities Fund was down 7.46% in Q1 and his Discovery Global Macro Fund down 9.17% after each fell some 10% in March, according to Forbes. It’s a sharp reversal for Citrone, who was one of the few hedge fund managers to give the S&P 500 a run for its money in 2013, returning about 27%.
Fortress to Tudor Lose in First Quarter as Macro Misfires (Bloomberg)
Paul Tudor Jones, Michael Novogratz and Louis Bacon, hedge-fund managers that profited last year from bets on macroeconomic trends, posted losses in the first quarter as some of those trades turned against them. Markets gyrated in the first three months of the year as investors fled developing countries in anticipation of further reduction in U.S. monetary stimulus, Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region and Japanese stocks tumbled. The losses for macro managers have caused them to cut some of their bigger bets, Anthony Lawler, a money manager at the $120 billion Swiss firm GAM, wrote in a report last week, though their views — including that Japanese stocks will rise and the U.S. dollar will gain — could make money later in 2014, he said.
Why Your Average Investor Is Crushing Big Hedge Funds These Days (Businessinsider)
Everyone’s talking about the stock market’s “internal correction“: investors have been dumping high-beta, momentum stocks for low-beta, value names. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is among the stocks that are down more than 20% during the period. Investors who are broadly diversified aren’t doing too terribly. The S&P 500 is just 1.6% from its all-time high of 1,897. But the Nasdaq has tumbled by more than 5%. According to Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’ David Kostin, the big hedge funds are among the investors exposed to these losers.
Economist Who Once Advised Obama Now Consults With Hedgies (Finalternatives)
A former top economist for U.S. President Barack Obama is now offering his take on market developments with hedge fund managers and other financial market players. Austan Goolsbee, through a contract with New York City-based consultancy 32 Advisors, has chatted most Fridays since February 2013 with employees of large hedge fund firms Fortress Investment Group, York Capital Management, Perella Weinberg Partners, SkyBridge Capital and others. Firms who pay to join the 45-90 minute conference calls get to hear Goolsbee opine on issues such as the rise of bitcoin and the controversy surrounding high-frequency trading.
Only 4% of hedge fund managers say to have registered to market under JOBS Act (Opalesque)
Preqin’s recent survey of more than 150 private equity and hedge fund managers reveals that these firms have been slow to take advantage of the marketing opportunities presented by the JOBS Act, which allows them to advertise and perform general solicitations to showcase their funds to a larger number of potential investors. Only 4% of hedge fund managers and 5% of private equity managers surveyed said they have registered to market under the JOBS Act. Many alternative asset managers believe that the audience they target – for many firms, large accredited institutional investors – is better reached through traditional methods of connecting and building relationships rather than through mass marketing.
Lone Star Value hedge fund plans to take its objection over Hilltop’s $7.88-a-share buyout of SWS Group directly to shareholders (Dallasnews)
Activist hedge fund investor Lone Star Value Management is vigorously objecting to Dallas-based Hilltop Holdings’ $7.88-per-share buyout of the parent of Southwest Securities Inc. and Southwest Securities FSB of Dallas. In a letter to SWS Group’s board of director, Connecticut-based Lone Star Value founder and CEO Jeffrey E. Eberwein is accusing the board of “failing to run a proper auction process.” “It is clear that the Board has not fulfilled its fiduciary duty and has failed, for the second time in three years, to obtain maximum value for the long-suffering shareholders of SWS,” Eberwein added.
Is it time to look to hedge funds as the market stumbles? (TrustNet)
Now could be a good time to buy into listed hedge funds as the UK equity market starts to stumble, according to Monica Tepes, investment trust analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, who notes they have the ability to do well in sideways or downwards markets. Hedge fund BH Global is simplifying its fee structure which in effect amounts to a fee cut and brings the sector back into the limelight. Tepes says that following a few years of boring performance this could be a good time to buy into the sector as developed world markets look frothy – particularly given the discounts that have opened up.
