Trient Asset Management AS (“Trient”), headquartered in Oslo, Norway and Tiger Management L.L.C. (“Tiger”), headquartered in New York City, have announced a strategic partnership to focus on investing in a global macro strategy.
Trient is a new investment company, whose founding partners include Knut Kjær and Dag Løtveit. Each previously played a significant role in the formation and operation of Norges Bank Investment Management (“NBIM”), which was established in 1997 to manage the Norwegian Government Pension Fund and Norway’s foreign reserves. Mr. Kjær served as NBIM’s founding Chief Executive Officer (1997-2008). With assets of approximately US$600 billion, NBIM manages one of the world’s largest pension funds.
Here’s Bruce Berkowitz Massive Presentation Making A Bull Case On Bank Of America (BusinessInsider)
Fairholme Capital Management’s Bruce Berkowitz still likes Bank of America even though the stock hammered his fund’s returns in 2011. The fund manager recently released a so-called “case study” on the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank as to why it’s a good investment. [via ValueWalk] Basically, his argument is that the stock is still trading well-below book value and the bank will start to see “incredible earnings power” thanks to reductions in risks and expenses as part of Project “New BAC”
Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group Buys 26 Million Shares of Vivendi
(ValueWalk)
Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group is one of the largest hedge funds, with over $24 billion under management. Like all hedge funds, Baupost is required to disclose US common equity positions every quarter in 13-Fs. However, foreign holdings are not disclosed in the 13-Fs. The largest holding is an ADR stake in British Petroleum (BP). In the hedge fund’s 2011 annual letter, they disclosed buys in private companies and mentioned recent purchases in Europe, without giving any names. The letter mentioned an expansion of the London office, as the hedge fund has been finding value due to large selling in Europe.
CP Rail-Pershing proxy fight: Bill Ackman dismisses expected earnings as “one good quarter”
(TheStar)
CP Rail is set to report strong first quarter earnings on Friday that will far exceed expectations, but hedge fund Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman argues one good quarter, due to mild weather, won’t turn around the company.
Ackman, who is leading a proxy fight to change management at the Calgary-based railroad, argues the company has long been underperforming and the best way to turn it around is to change the management at the top.
He wants to replace the current CEO Fred Green, who has been backed unanimously by CP’s board of directors, with Hunter Harrison, who is credited with turning around Canadian National Railway and Illinois Central Railroad.
Sowing Seeds of the next Major Crisis (WSJ)
It started out like “Mission: Impossible” but has ended up more like “Meet the Fockers,” minus the comedy.
Western governments’ emergency interventions in the financial sector during the 2007-2009 crisis and the more recent European turmoil have led to a messy relationship riddled with distrust and misunderstandings.
The situation is understandable in the short-term but untenable in the long-run.
In the U.S. and Europe, the private sector’s dependence on government support is fostering behaviors—excessive risk-taking, distortions in capital markets and maybe even inflationary pressures—that could lay the foundations for the next crisis.
If You Want To Get A Job At Bridgewater, You Better Have An Answer To This Question (BusinessInsider)
We’re all familiar with the eccentric hiring practices at Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater—the world’s largest, most successful and perhaps most mysterious hedge fund. Sources that have experienced Bridgewater’s hiring process told Clusterstock that the interview includes spending about 30% of the time talking about one’s weaknesses, videotaped in-person sessions and discussing opinions on torture.
EARNINGS PREVIEW: Mild Winter To Boost Returns For Insurers (WSJ)
TAKING THE PULSE: The mild winter was kind to U.S. property-casualty insurers in the first quarter, giving the sector a respite after a long string of natural catastrophes that caused over $100 billion in insured losses worldwide last year.
Starting a Hedge Fund Loses its Appeal (Reuters)
The old picture of the hedge fund start-up as two traders and a terminal at a posh London address looks ever more dated as the risky financial environment makes jobs at bigger firms a safer bet. A tough year for hedge funds and new bank regulations mean there is no shortage of traders looking to move on – just the sort who might once have started small funds.
Ex-Summit hedge fund chief sentence to prison for insider trading (NJ)
The chief investment officer and portfolio manager of a Summit-based hedge fund was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison for his role in an insider trading scheme that authorities say netted him more than $2.5 million in illegal profits. James Turner, 45, was sentenced in Newark federal court after having previously pled guilty to a charge of securities fraud. He also was fined $25,000, said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Josh Mandel raised another $2 million, not counting today’s receipts (Cleveland)
Josh Mandel raised $2 million for his U.S. Senate race in the first three months of 2012, according to copies of financial reports his campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission. That’s behind Sherrod Brown’s nearly $2.4 million quarterly take, but it doesn’t include new fund-raising from today, when Mandel held an event in Columbus with Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain. Mandel will hold another later today, in Northeast Ohio with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Hedge Fund News: Philip Falcone, Soros, Icahn (Insider Monkey)
