Anita Nemes, Deutsche Bank AG’s London-based global head of capital introduction, talks about the outlook for the hedge-fund industry. Global hedge fund assets may rise 12 percent this year to a record $2.26 trillion as investors reduce cash and seek returns, according to an annual survey of investors by Deutsche Bank. Nemes speaks with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.”
Hedge Fund Clients Say Industry Assets to Reach $2.1 Trillion (Businessweek)
Global hedge-fund assets may rise 12 percent to $2.13 trillion by year-end as “challenging” market conditions prompt investors to stick with the industry even after many funds suffered losses in 2011, according to a survey by Credit Suisse Group AG.
Buffett’s Board Selects Manager to Eventually Take Over as Berkshire CEO (Bloomberg)
Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) for more than four decades, said the board has picked his eventual replacement. Buffett didn’t identify the choice in his annual letter to shareholders Feb. 25, saying instead that directors were “enthusiastic” and have had “a great deal of exposure” to the person designated to take over as CEO. Buffett, 81, didn’t specify a timeline for the switch.
UBS Macro Strategies Team to Start Hedge Fund as Banks Exit Prop Trading (Bloomberg)
UBS AG (UBSN)’s only team of traders with a global mandate to make bets on macroeconomic trends is leaving the bank to form a hedge fund, said Gerard Satur, the head of macro strategic trading who will lead the fund.
Wells Fargo Sells Majority Stake in Overland Advisors Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. lender by market value, agreed to sell a majority interest in Overland Advisors LLC to speed the hedge fund’s independence.
Warren Buffett Shoots Back At Chris Christie (Politico)
Warren Buffett hit back at Chris Christie on Monday for recently suggesting that the billionaire “just write a check and shut up,” sarcastically calling the New Jersey governor’s remarks “a touching response.” “It’s sort of a touching response to a $1.2 trillion deficit, isn’t it? That somehow the American people will all send in checks and take care of it?” Buffett said in an interview with CNBC.
Rambourg to Start Verrazzano Fund in Paris, Sunday Times Reports (Bloomberg)
Guillaume Rambourg, the former Gartmore Group Ltd. (GRT) trader, will start Verrazzano Capital Partners, a hedge fund in Paris, on March 1, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got its information.
Spanish Economy Minister to Meet John Paulson, Expansion Says (Bloomberg)
Spanish Economy Minister Luis De Guindos will meet Paulson & Co. hedge-fund founder John Paulson as he seeks investor support for government reforms, Expansion said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
Paulson Said to Tell Clients Gold Fund Will Top Others (Bloomberg)
John Paulson, the hedge fund manager seeking to rebound from record losses in 2011, told investors his Gold Fund will outperform his other strategies over five years, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
John Paulson Adds to All But Two Gold Company Holdings (Forbes)
John Paulson, founder of hedge fund Paulson & Co., added shares to all but two of his gold holdings in the fourth quarter. The stocks he sold were two out of three of his gold holdings in Africa. Paulson has been extremely bullish on gold since 2009, when he created the Paulson Gold Fund and purchased 31.5 million shares of SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) at approximately $90 per share, just after he became a billionaire short-selling subprime mortgages in 2007. When the gold price jumped 30 percent in 2010, he made the hedge fund record $5 billion profit.
CVC rebuffs hedge fund plan to restructure Nine debt-sources (Reuters)
Private equity firm CVC , facing heavy potential losses on its debt-laden Australian TV network Nine, has no plans to respond to a fresh proposal from hedge funds to convert their debt into equity, sources said on Monday.
Japan Hedge Funds Fear Being Shunned Over AIJ Scandal (Reuters)
A mood of fear and nervousness hung over Japan’s hedge fund industry on Monday as regulators widened an investigation into the suspected disappearance of more than $2 billion in corporate pension funds managed by Tokyo-based AIJ Investment Advisors Co.
Hedge Fund Nominates Five For AOL Board (Reuters)
Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP nominated a slate of five candidates to AOL Inc’s board, saying discussions with the company in the past two months were unsatisfying.
2012 Sticky Hedge Fund Money? (Reuters Hedge World)
Based on a survey of 29 fund of funds managers, pension plans, family offices and third-party marketers, StreetID’s Jesse Marrus said that he believes that as hedge fund capital inflows increase, “they will continue to hire to address investors’ concerns.”
Paul Singer Calls for New Global Leadership (Deal Book)
Paul E. Singer, the conservative founder of the hedge fund Elliott Management, has quietly donated about a million dollars to Republican causes so far this election cycle. To what end? A casual read of his year-end letter to investors offers some clarity.
Don’t Believe Every “Buffett Buys…” Headline (CNN Money)
Warren Buffett still does most of the portfolio management at Berkshire Hathaway, but the press often mistakes his investments with those of his managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler.
Leon Cooperman’s high-dividend picks (Market Watch)
Leon Cooperman , CEO of Omega Advisors, said that he had “no interest” in Treasurys during an interview with Bloomberg. According to Cooperman, U.S. government bonds are the least attractive investments in today’s economy. The 10-year Treasury bonds yield about 2%, and assuming that investors have a marginal tax rate of 40%, the net return will be 1.2% after tax, with the U.S. inflation rate about 2%-3%. What are good investments then? Well, many publicly traded companies are yielding much higher than Treasury bonds. Cooperman believes that these high-yielding stocks are much more appealing than Treasurys.
Early Investors Put $12B Into Hedge Funds From 2009-11 (FINalternatives)
Day-one or early-stage investors allocated $12.4 billion to hedge funds between 2009 and 2011 according to a new survey by Citi Prime Finance. Citi polled 79 “leading” investors who provide capital to hedge fund managers upon launch or within the first 12 months of a fund’s life. The average size of the funds in which they invested was $16 million for new funds and $37.7 million for established managers.
Former Citi Execs. Launch Fund Of Funds (FINalternatives)
A pair of former Citigroup executives have set up a fund of hedge funds in Italy. Panfilo Tarantelli and Sergio Ascolani founded Tages Capital in Milan last year. The two did not exactly start the new firm from scratch, instead buying UBI Pramerica’s alternative investment business in October, Financial News reports.
New Survey Looks at Start-Up Funds (HFN)
A new report by financial services giant Citigroup reveals some interesting information on capital allocations to start-up hedge funds.
KPMG Hires Hedge Fund Industry Veterans (HFN)
Tax and audit firm KPMG announced Monday that it has named two hedge fund industry veterans to its alternative investments division.
Warren Buffett Favors Wells As The “Single Best Bank To Own”: A Comparative Returns Analysis (Zero Hedge)
Following on his latest bash session of gold from the weekend, when Warren Buffett dedicated a substantial portion of his annual letter to shareholders for the now routine and perfectly expected gold blasting, the Octogenarian of Omaha revealed to his faithful personal scribe Becky Quick that of all banks, he would recommend Wells Fargo as the single best bank to own. Naturally, as was previously lampooned by William Banzai, Americans, even those paying a 15% tax rate, would “do absolutely nothing for Warren trading book” if they were to buy gold instead of pooling their cash into the ponzi.
Passport Special Opportunities Fund Down 20% in 2011 (Value Walk)
John Burbank’s special opportunities fund ended 2011 down 20%. In the fourth quarter of the year, the fund was down 5.5%. Since the fund’s inception in May 2008, it has returned 9.7% per annum versus -4.0% for MSCI world index…
David Tepper’s Appaloosa Takes Positions in Boston Scientific and Oracle (Value Walk)
Investors can make just as much profit investing in high growth, large-cap industry leaders as they can investing in distressed securities. Just ask David Tepper.
Rogers: Ron Paul Understands Economic Challenges (Value Walk)
Jim Rogers interviewed by Reuters on who best understands the economy, and he replied the only one candidate that better understands the US economy is Ron Paul, while none of the others have no clue, they are all part of the same problem.
HFMWeek Daily Snapshot – 27 February (HFM Week)
Brand Names January 2012 (AR)
Greek Bond Exchange, EM Hedge Funds Up, High-Frequency Trading Complexity Stymies SEC And More (Reuters Hedge World)
Monday 7atseven: A Global Bottleneck (Abnormal Returns)
Top Clicks This Week On Abnormal Returns (Abnormal Returns)
Frontrunning: February 27 (Zero Hedge)
Market Morning Update – 27 February 2012 (Value Walk)
Texas Teachers, Indiana Police, Georgia State and Tokyo AISIN make headways in hedge fund investments – and other hedge fund news – Week 8 (Opalesque)
Morning Read: Euro-woes, Buffett’s Hormones (Barrons)
Notes On The 2011 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report, Part 1 (Aleph Blog)
Morning News: February 27, 2012 (Crossing Wall Street)
10 Monday AM Reads (The Big Picture)
