BlackRock Hires Harvard’s McKenna for Event Driven Fund (BusinessWeek)
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) hired Harvard Management Co.’s Mark McKenna to start an event-driven hedge fund as the world’s largest asset manager seeks to expand its alternative investment business. McKenna, 43, will be based in New York and lead a new team focused on global events including corporate takeovers, divestitures, and management changes to generate returns, according to a memo dated June 9 provided by the company. He is expected to start a new fund this year and will report to Carl Eifler in hedge-fund strategies.
Wells Just Weeks Away From Launching Self-Cleared Prime (Finalternatives)
Two years after buying its way into the hedge fund services business, Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is set to expand its prime brokerage. The bank plans to launch a self-cleared prime brokerage business by the end of the month, Risk reports. Wells has been working on the service since its 2012 acquisition of Merlin Securities, an introducing broker that offered hedge funds access to Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’ and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM)’s prime-brokerage services. The new business will initially support only U.S. assets. Wells prime-brokerage chief Eamon McCooey said that it will debut in “a couple of weeks”—pending regulatory approval—and will expand “over the next five years to accommodate more clients and strategies.”
LPs Lining Up for Access to Lonestar Team (HFAlert)
Two investment professionals who worked together at San Francisco fund shop Lonestar Capital are starting a hedge fund business in Canada. Len Kipp and Xavier Majic, both Canadians, are set to open Maple Rock Capital of Toronto, with plans to launch their debut fund on Jan. 1. The vehicle will take long and short positions in both equity and debt, hunting for value opportunities globally. That’s similar to the work they did at Lonestar, a nearly $1 billion fund operation that has been largely closed to new investments for years. Indeed, pent-up demand for Lonestar may be why Maple Rock is on track to launch with $400 million. Investors have been quick to embrace the planned fund since marketing began early in the second quarter. Once the vehicle begins trading, Kipp and Majic plan to impose a 30-month moratorium on fund raising.
Hedge Fund Group Offers Free Membership To Women (AssociationsNow)
In an effort to diversify both its organization and its industry, the Hedge Fund Association is offering complimentary membership to women hedge fund professionals for six months. The offer is tied to a recent announcement [PDF] that HFA added three women to leadership positions in the organization. “The goal is to increase involvement of women in the marketplace,” said Ron Geffner, the association’s vice president. “We prefer to see more involvement by a broader demographic, and we’d like to support the better half.”
Soros Has Big Plans For This Energy Stock (Nasdaq)
George Soros is a macro investor: He looks at the big picture, identifies a theme… and then homes in on the best way to profit from that theme. His strategy involves looking at government and central bank policies, industry trends, and the economy — but one tactic that he has typically avoided is activist investing. Soros usually leaves that for the likes of Carl Icahn , Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb. However, when Soros — with a net worth of $25 billion — decides to become a company’s largest shareholder and assume an activist role, he should not be taken lightly. Soros has taken on just such a role with Penn Virginia Corporation (NYSE:PVA).
Recommended Reading:
Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks’ Insight on Markets
