S.E.C. Seeks Delay in Case Against Rengan Rajaratnam (NYTimes)
Acquitted of insider trading, the former hedge fund manager Rengan Rajaratnam may now avoid a separate court battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lawyers for Mr. Rajaratnam and the S.E.C. filed a letter on Thursday requesting that the pending civil case against him be stayed for 60 days while both sides try to reach an agreement. The suit is related to the charge that Mr. Rajaratnam committed insider trading while working at the Galleon Group. The letter was filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan less than two weeks after a jury of eight women and four men acquitted Mr. Rajaratnam, 43, of that charge.
Glenview Assets Back Over $9 Billion (Finalternatives)
Glenview Capital Management has returned nearly 10% this year, helping propel the hedge fund back to its pre-crisis size. In his mid-year letter to investors, firm founder Larry Robbins reported a 9.6% first-half return. He also said the firm’s assets now stand at $9.2 billion, after having fallen to less than $3 billion in 2009 amidst losses and redemptions. Glenview had about $9 billion in assets before the financial crisis.
Druckenmiller: IBM ‘poster child’ of bad corporate growth (CNBC)
Legendary hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller said IBM’s recent stock buybacks represent what’s wrong with the economic recovery—one fueled by increased debt, not organic growth. “I would say International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) is the poster child. They literally faced a threat not too dissimilar to what Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE:KODK) and Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX) [confronted], in terms of a new technology staring them right in the face. Instead of increasing investment to combat the threat, they’ve actually borrowed a lot of money to buy back stock,” the retired founder of Duquesne Capital Management said Wednesday at the Delivering Alpha conference presented by CNBC and Institutional Investor.
Two proxy firms give boost to activist slate at miner Cliffs (Reuters)
Casablanca Capital LP said two independent proxy advisory firms have recommended shareholders of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF) vote in favor of the hedge fund’s bid to replace some of the members of the miner’s board of directors. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co have issued strong recommendations in support of Casablanca’s campaign for board changes, the New York-based hedge fund said in a statement late on Wednesday. ISS is the largest proxy advisor for institutional investors.
Credit Suisse: Institutions to ramp up hedge fund investments in second half of 2014 (PIOnline)
Institutions intend to be more active hedge fund investors in the second half of 2014 than they were in the first. Fully 97% of the 284 institutional asset owners surveyed in June by Credit Suisse Capital Services said they intend to invest in hedge funds in the six months ending Dec. 31, compared to 85% who responded that they would be active in the first half of the year in response to a Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) survey at the beginning of the year.
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