Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU)
SAC Said to Give Investors Until June 3 for Redemptions (Bloomberg)
Ex-UBS Credit Trader Nakum Joins Lucidus Capital Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Lucidus Capital Partners LLP, the credit hedge fund, hired Anatoly Nakum last month to be a money manager focused on corporate debt. The former co-head of debt trading for North America at UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) is running a long-short credit strategy with William Gaberlavage, Nakum said today in an e-mail. Nakum, who left UBS in 2011, joins David Gallers, who departed his post as head of credit-default swap index trading at UBS in October and now is a money manager focused on the indexes. Simon Meadows, head of business development at Lucidus in London, declined to comment on the moves.
Why Hedge Fund Big Shots Hate Ben Bernanke (Forbes)
Hedge fund zillionaire Paul Singer is super-mad at the Federal Reserve and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke over inflation they have not yet quite unleashed. In his eyes, they’re guilty of “lower and lower discipline, less and less conservative stewardship of the precious confidence that is all that stands between fiat currency and monetary ruin.” Hedge fund zillionaire Seth Klarman has the same Bernanke bee in his bonnet. And it’s not just those two, of course. Fellow master of the universe David Einhorn is on record accusing Ben and the other gluttons at the Fed of an unnatural love for jelly donuts. Yet another investing legend, Stanley Druckenmiller, just called the Fed’s bond purchases the “most inappropriate” monetary policy ever.
Hedge fund Jana not done with Agrium (bnn.ca)
U.S. based hedge fund Jana Partners is not walking away from Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU) after it failed in its 10-month long proxy battle that culminated in April with none of its five nominees being elected to the fertilizer company’s board, a source familiar with the hedge fund tells BNN. Jana continues to monitor Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU) and is working on the governance issues that it says are evident after proxy campaign, the unidentified person said. Jana managing partner Barry Rosenstein claimed that Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU) played dirty, after the hedge fund believed it had enough votes at April’s annual general meeting to place two of its nominees on the board.
Passport’s Burbank a Believer in Gold, Shorting Bullion Miners (Businessweek)
John Burbank, founder of San Francisco-based hedge-fund firm Passport Capital LLC, said he’s a believer in gold and is short on bullion miners. “We made money this year in shorts,” Burbank said today during a panel discussion at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas. “Mining and steel companies are not doing well. A lot of things tied to gold growth are not doing well.”
Falcone’s Harbinger Loses Appeal Over Northern Rock Stake Value (Bloomberg)
Harbinger Capital Partners LLC lost a U.K. appeal seeking compensation for a stake in Northern Rock Asset Management Plc that was valued as worthless when the British lender was nationalized in 2008. Philip Falcone’s hedge fund had argued its shares were worth as much as 400 million pounds ($622 million). Judge John Mummery upheld the decision today of a lower court. Andrew Caldwell, an independent assessor from the accounting firm BDO International, had determined there was no value in the shares. “I think that the valuer got it right,” Mummery said in a written ruling.
Paulson hedge fund puts hotel unit in bankruptcy to escape lawsuit (Yahoo! News)
Billionaire investor John Paulson has put a real estate unit of his hedge fund into bankruptcy to thwart a lawsuit by a lender that claims it is owed tens of millions of dollars related to the recent sale of several luxury resorts. According to filings late Wednesday in Manhattan bankruptcy court, MSR Hotels & Resorts Inc. sought Chapter 11 protection from creditors to sell its remaining assets and wind down. A bankruptcy filing often halts litigation against a debtor. Daniel Kamensky, MSR’s treasurer and a partner at a Paulson & Co. affiliate, said in an affidavit that protection was necessary because of the “baseless” lawsuit filed last month by Five Mile Capital Partners against MSR’s directors, which he said reflects the lender’s “scorched-earth” tactics.
