Activist Sandell Scolds PartnerRe Board for Shunning Hostile Bid (Bloomberg)
Sandell Asset Management Corp., the activist hedge-fund firm run by Tom Sandell, said PartnerRe Ltd. directors hurt shareholders by pushing a merger with Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. rather than talks with a hostile bidder. “We will not hesitate to exercise the rights available to us to hold the board accountable,” Tom Sandell said in a letter Friday to Jean-Paul Montupet, the chairman of Bermuda-based PartnerRe.
Carl Icahn Says Underweight Apple Bets Will Hurt Funds’ Performance (Reuters)
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said Thursday that mutual funds will increasingly realize that being underweight shares of Apple will hurt their performance as the technology giant continues to innovate. “They are underweight Apple in relation to the index funds, and I think more and more of these funds will realize that’s going to hurt their performance in the future as Apple continues to launch new products in new categories and continues to grow earnings,” Icahn told Reuters.
BofA Tells Bond Buyers: Singer Won’t Block This Argentina Payout (Bloomberg)
Given Paul Singer’s success in disrupting Argentina’s bond payments, it’s not surprising investors are reluctant to buy local notes that the country is set to repay in October. They shouldn’t be, Bank of America Corp. and Jefferies Group LLC say. The hedge-fund manager is unlikely to target the $6.3 billion of debt as part of his attempt to force Argentina to repay him because he’s focused on blocking payments on recently issued notes, they say. And even if he tried, the legal dispute that would arise wouldn’t be resolved before the debt matures, Bank of America strategist Jane Brauer says.
D.E. Shaw and Bright Plain Buy 7.1 Megawatts of Solar in Indiana (Bloomberg)
D.E. Shaw & Co., a $36 billion hedge fund, and Bright Plain Renewable Energy LLC acquired two solar projects in Indianapolis with a combined capacity of 7.1 megawatts. Community Energy Inc. is developing the Marion projects on industrial property including a former landfill, according to a statement Thursday. KeyCorp provided financing. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Piggybacking Icahn, Other Activists Beats Market (CNBC)
Buying stocks that are the targets of activists such as Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman beats the market, according to a study this week from S&P Capital IQ. The winning returns were based on buying after the activists’ stakes were filed with the SEC, meaning investors don’t have to get the same price as these heavy hitters to ride their coattails successfully.
6 Stocks To Buy…According To Hedge Funds (CNN Money)
Hedge funds are the all-star teams on Wall Street. They command the highest fees and attract many of the best investing minds. Looking at what the 50 biggest hedge funds are buying and selling is akin to looking at what the Ivy League universities are doing. They’re trendsetters. This doesn’t mean they always get it right. Even the top investors have their blunder years (Paulson & Co. certainly had a lackluster 2014, enough to knock founder John Paulson out of the top 25 highest paid hedge fund manager list).
Hedge Fund Managers Stung By ‘Class Warfare’ Rhetoric (CNBC)
Hedge fund investments are finally outperforming, but the public image of their managers is taking a beating. President Barack Obama called the group “society’s lottery winners” last week, noting that the top 25 earning hedge fund managers made more in 2014 ($11.6 billion) than the roughly 158,000 kindergarten teachers in the U.S. did combined ($8.5 billion).
