Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Hampden Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNK), WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX)
SAC’s Cohen Said to Mull Deal That Would Shut Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Russia asks Interpol to monitor movements of British hedge fund boss Bill Browder (The Independent)
Russia has applied to Interpol to monitor the travel and whereabouts of a British hedge fund boss wanted by Moscow who is at the heart of a diplomatic stand-off over the alleged killing of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The international policing body will decide this week whether to approve the request from the Russian authorities to issue an “All Points Bulletin” for US-born financier Bill Browder, whose Hermitage Capital Management employed Mr Magnitsky prior to his death in a Russian prison in 2009.
Rich Returns From a Poor Man’s Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Everyone wants to know what John Paulson or David Einhorn or David Tepper is loading up on and what they’re getting rid of. And yes, there’s an exchange-traded fund to feed that fascination. It’s up 52 percent since its inception less than a year ago — 18 percent more than the S&P 500 Index. The Global X Top Guru Holdings Index ETF (GURU) sounds a bit gimmicky, but its inner workings are more sophisticated than its name. GURU’s methodology is to scour 13F filings and buy the biggest stock holding from each hedge fund. Filters are put in place to eliminate funds that have high turnover rates — those that do a lot of rapid-fire buying and selling — and the ETF considers only hedge funds with concentrated top holdings.
WPX Energy rises as hedge fund discloses stake (Joplin Globe)
Shares of WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX) soared to an all-time high on Monday as a hedge fund disclosed a minority stake in the oil and gas company. Taconic Capital Advisors LP said in a regulatory filing that it now has a 6.39 percent interest in WPX Energy. The hedge fund also said that it may talk with WPX about ways to increase value for shareholders.
Credit: WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX)
Contrarian hedge fund manager Kass thinks stocks ripe for fall (Sun-Sentinel)
Hedge fund manager Douglas Kass has always been a contrarian, whether it’s predicting a “bear” market when the Dow and the S&P 500 both topped new record highs earlier in the week or deciding to put down roots in Palm Beach County, far from most other portfolio managers. “I am wired as a contrarian so I prefer to stay away from ‘Group Think’ or as I call ‘Group Stink,'” Kass quips. But Kass has been on the money, from predicting Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway stock would falter to warning Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was overpriced, just before the famed company’s stock took a tumble. Buffet was so impressed with Kass that he invited him to sound off about why investing in Buffet’s Berkshire is a bad idea.
US hedge fund to pick 49% in Nitesh Estates’ SPV (Times of India)
New York-headquartered Forum Capital Partners, a $6 billion global hedge fund focused on the real estate market, is investing Rs 300 crore for a 49% stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) floated by south-based developer Nitesh Estates, said sources briefed on the matter. The BSE listed developer is carving out 5-million sqft of marquee residential projects with total sale value of Rs 2,500 crore across Bangalore, Chennai and Goa into a SPV, Nitesh Housing Developers. Sources citied earlier…
…told TOI that the hedge fund would be investing about Rs 225 crore through equity and the remaining Rs 75 crore would be channelled through non-convertible %debentures.
Hampden Bank under pressure to sell from Dallas-based hedgefund Clover Partners (MassLive.com)
A Texas hedge fund firm is stepping up its efforts to put Hampden Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNK) on the block by trying to get two of its representatives on the Springfield banking company’s board of directors. With 6.5 percent of the company’s shares, Dallas-based hedge fund Clover Partners is the biggest institutional shareholder on Hampden’s roster, which also includes Boston-based Wellington Management and other industry heavyweights. Johnny Guerry, Clover’s managing partner, and Garold Base, CEO of Dallas-based Viewpoint Bank, were recently nominated for board membership by MHC Mutual Conversion Fund, a Clover general partner.
Hedge fund is trying to overthrow the board of Intrepid Mines (The Australian)
The Hong Kong-based hedge fund trying to overthrow the board of Intrepid Mines was in contact with the holders of the title for the big Tujuh Bukit copper and gold deposit in Indonesia before the Australian company’s staff were ordered offsite. Quantum Pacific managing director Greg Mazur said that he first contacted the group – led by Indonesian billionaire Edwin Soeryadjaya – last July. Mr Soeryadjaya has title to the deposit Intrepid previously thought it had rights to. This was after Intrepid announced to the market that new shareholders had joined its Indonesian minority partner but before Intrepid was forced offsite and the new shareholders had been made public.
Hedge-Fund Billionaire Uses Data Analysis to Guide Giving (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
The hedge-fund titan John Arnold and his wife, Laura, plan to spend most of their $4-billion fortune on efforts to better understand the foundation of major societal issues such as obesity, pension reform, and crime and find solutions, The Wall Street Journal writes in a profile of the couple and their giving approach. Mr. Arnold retired from the world of finance last year to focus on philanthropy. He and his wife ranked third on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of top donors in 2012, giving away $423-million, most of it through their foundation.
Vcheck Global Protects Hedge Funds with Accredited Investor Reports (MarketWatch)
SEC Chairman Elisse Walter this week voiced concerns over potential increased investment losses by qualified but unsophisticated ‘accredited investors.’ Implementation of the JOBS Act, she said, would greatly increase the potential for fraud against recent retirees, among others. Walter recommends an overhaul of the accredited investor definition, as well as additional oversight and industry regulation. Vcheck Global’s due diligence processes are perfectly positioned to help fund managers prove to regulators that their investor clients have been properly vetted. By utilizing its thorough, time-tested, multi-layered investigative processes, Vcheck Global has been able to quickly and affordably give its clients more detail about the people they do business with and accept funds from.
BlueCrest credit hedge fund makes gains despite European short bias (Creditflux)
The BlueCrest Multi Strategy Credit put in a return of 3.1% for the first quarter, according to a listed feeder fund. This is slightly above the average performance for relative value credit hedge funds of 2.5%, according to the Creditflux index of this sector. BlueCrest’s fund made gains from tactical trading in US high yield, according to the statement. In Europe, the fund was positioned mostly on the short side, trading single names and indices. This strategy produced what it describes as “modest gains”, despite the sharp tightening in spreads during the first quarter.
