Saturday, November 27, 2010

Level Global, Diamondback Capital, and Loch Capital raided by Feds

As part of an insider trading probe, Federal investigators have recently raided the offices of several hedge fund managers, including Level Global Investors, Diamondback Capital Management and Loch Capital Management LLC. According to the Wall Street Journal, the authorities had warrants but the investigations are still ongoing.


Diamondback Capital is led by Larry Sapanski and Level Global Investors is led by David Ganek and Anthony Chiasson, all of whom were previously senior portfolio managers at Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors. No reports have indicated SAC Capital's potential involvement, but the firm has been subpoenaed.


Read Full Article

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

John Paulson’s Paulson & Co reconsiders big bets on bank rally

John Paulson, who has been bullish on a banking rally since the economic recovery began, seems to have re-thought parts of his strategy this quarter. His multi-strategy hedge fund Paulson & Co. recently disclosed that it had significantly reduced its stakes in several large American banks, including Citigroup (NYSE: C), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), The New York Times reports. At the end of the third quarter, Mr. Paulson cut 18% percent of his holdings in Bank of America, selling 30 million shares as their value fell 8.8%. He also sold 16% of his holdings in Citigroup, 11% of his Wells Fargo stake and 29% of his JP Morgan Chase shares.

Notably, Paulson & Co. abandoned Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) entirely as it sold out of all of its GS holdings. Paulson & Co. was founded in 1994 by current president and senior fund manager John Paulson. The hedge fund behemoth currently has $33 billion in assets.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Hedge Fund Job Report: George Weiss, SAC Capital, Touradji Capital, Elliot Management, Armajaro, Soroban Capital

In this week’s hedge fund job report, we review senior management changes that were recently made at Paul Touradji’s Touradji Capital Management and Paul Singer’s Elliot Management, as well as portfolio manager additions that were made at George Weiss Associates and Armajaro Asset Management. Notably, both the George Weiss and Armajaro additions were brought aboard to launch new hedge funds. Finally, we also cover several senior additions at Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Eric Mandelblatt’s emerging fund management firm Soroban Capital.


First up is George Weiss Associates, which has poached Brenda Reed from Fidelity Investments’ London Office. While at Fidelity, Ms. Reed managed the mutual fund giant’s Fidelity Global Focus Fund, which has more than one billion in assets under management. At George Weiss Associates, she will reportedly be the lead portfolio manager for a yet to be launched global long/short equity hedge fund.

Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors has also recently hired a Fidelity veteran. SAC Capital poached Venk Kidambi from Fidelity Capital Markets where he was Head of Financial Engineering. Mr. Kidambi is now a director of Algorithmic Research at SAC Capital. The multi-strategy behemoth has also recently hired Bruce Roscherr as a quantitative strategies focused portfolio manager. Before joining SAC Capital, Roscherr was a Portfolio Manager at Citi Alternative Investments.
Read Full Article / See Current Hedge Fund Job Postings

Friday, November 12, 2010

All Credit to Moore Capital for This Year's Bounce Back

One of the biggest decisions that hedge fund managers in any investment style have to make is how they respond to significant losses, even if they are relative in nature. So think back to the response last year of Paul Tudor Jones in reconfiguring the capital allocations within his funds. Even though he made good money in 2009, his flagship BVI Global Fund was up 16.51% last year, he rejigged allocations - reducing some systematic strategies, cutting out some emerging market exposure altogether and increasing the classic opportunistic trading element. This was intended to be something of return to its roots for the Global Fund, as John Tudor Jones himself managed a bigger proportion of the assets, and macro in total was re-emphasized as it made up 88% of Fund assets from the 3Q of last year. The call was that the markets environment would be more suitable to that big-picture type trading that served Tudor Investment Corporation so well in the 90's, as QE created a time-warp.

See Complete Article

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Och-Ziff Capital Reports Gains & Future Plans

Och-Ziff Capital Management Group gave a glimpse into its investment progression Tuesday when hedge fund manager Daniel Och revealed that the fund will push its, “investment track record, transparency and infrastructure as the key drivers to furthering our competitive differentiation over time.”
See Complete Article

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Tiger Management’s Julian Robertson loves Apple

In an interview on CNBC this morning, Tiger Management’s Julian Robertson revealed that he remains hot on Apple Inc. (AAPL). Robertson believes that the company’s stock price could potentially surge to 25 to 30 times earnings over next 12 months. He said that such a high valuation is not inconceivable, since Apple is quite possibly the greatest company in the world.
See Complete Article

Friday, October 8, 2010

D.E. Shaw Firing, but other Top Hedge Funds are Hiring

Last week, hedge fund job seekers received unwelcome news when industry giant New York-based hedge fund manager D.E. Shaw & Co. announced that it was cutting 10 percent of its workforce, representing approximately 150 hedge fund industry jobs. Despite the layoffs at David Shaw’s quant shop, many other prominent hedge funds continue to hire.

As evidenced by HedgeTracker’s Hedge Fund Job Center, a large number of firms are looking to add talented portfolio managers, research analysts, fund raisers and operations professionals to bolster their teams. Some of the major hedge fund firms that appear on the hedge fund job board include: Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, David Harding’s quantitative focused Winton Capital Management, multi-strategy behemoth Fortress Investment Group, Clint Carlson’s Dallas-based Carlson Capital, HBK Investments, and OakTree Capital Management.

The hedge fund job board also includes positions from more traditional investment managers, like Martin J. Whitman’s value-focused Third Avenue Management, Bill Gross’ fixed income focused PIMCO, Mario J. Gabelli’s GARP focused GAMCO Asset Management, and pension giant TIAA-CREF Investment Management.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates retains position as top US Hedge Fund

Ray Dalio’s Westport-based Bridgewater Associates continues to reign as the United States’ largest hedge fund. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bridgewater, which manages $50.9 billion as of July 1, outranks J.P. Morgan Asset Management - which takes second place with $41.1 billion in assets under management (AUM) - by nearly $10 billion. The bulk of JPM’s hedge fund assets are managed by Highbridge Capital Management, its multi-strategy hedge fund management subsidiary.

John Paulson’s Paulson & Co follows in third place with $31 billion in AUM. Bridgewater’s success this year is largely due to the strong performance of its Pure Alpha Fund II.

Friday, September 24, 2010

David Tepper is bullish on Stocks

An interview this morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box with Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper reportedly helped move the US stock market higher. The respected hedge fund guru is moving into stocks, saying that if the economy does well over the next few months, stocks are going to do well, while bonds and gold will not do as well...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Paul Tudor Jones is Not Making Investors Any Money

Greenwich hedge funder Paul Tudor Jones might be a Forbes billionaire but he’s not helping his investors make the big bucks this year. According to an investor, BVI Global, his largest fund at Tudor Investment Corporation, is negative .9 percent as of September 20th. Meaning the 10 billionish of investor money he runs, in BVI, is lagging behind the industry average (Global Diversified Sector) whose average performance, according to HSBC, is positive 2.1 percent.

Source

Hedge Fund Seizing L.A. Radio Mogul’s Huge Estate

Connecticut hedge fund New Stream Capital is about to seize one of LA’s most expensive mansions. Self made radio mogul Ken Roberts, who’s been tied up in a nasty loan-to-own battle with the fund, told ME he’s set to turn the keys over Monday because he couldn’t pay back the $27.5 million he was court ordered to pay the hedge fund. Roberts says–like others who took short-term high-interest loans from Ridgefield-based New Stream, and secured the notes with their most valuable possessions– has discovered the fund wasn’t intending to just make him a loan, it really wanted to get control of his high-value property.

Read complete article here.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Jim Pallotta launches Raptor Evolution Fund

Legendary hedge fund manager Jim Pallotta is returning to the industry with the launch of the Raptor Evolution Fund. The new hedge fund management firm has reportedly raised approximately $200 million and will employ the same long/short equity strategy that established Pallotta during his impressive run at Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corporation. According to theNew York Times, Mr. Pallotta achieved returns that averaged over 19% annually over his 15 year tenure at Tudor.

To read full article, click here.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Emerging Hedge Fund Managers raising assets

Here are the recent hedge fund launches that should be of interest to industry analysts and hedge fund investors. A number of them have raised more than $100 million in assets under management, which is impressive considering the market environment.

Name / Founders / Assets
Areion Asset Management / Einoshin Arima & Giselle Leung / $120 million

Collard Capital Management / Simon Collard & James Beaton / N/A

OGI Global Global Macro Fund / Hideyuki Fred Omokawa & Allan Bedwick / $100 million

Round Rock Capital Advisors / Tan Maruyama / $16 million +

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Goldman Principal Strategies’ Stars are Moving on: Perella Weinberg, Carlyle, PIMCO, KKR, BlackRock?

Since last week’s announcement that Goldman Sachs was shutting down its venerated principal strategies group to comply with the Dodd-Frank act, news has swirled that a number of blue-chip firms are attempting to grab the investment group’s coveted managers and traders. Some of the firms that are reportedly involved include PE shops KKR & Co and Carlyle, asset management giants BlackRock and Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO), as well as Perella Weinberg Partners, a growing M&A and hedge fund boutique that was launched by Joe Perella in 2006.
Read complete article by clicking here...

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Stanley Druckenmiller prepares to close down Duquesne Capital Management

Stanley Druckenmiller recently announced his decision to retire as a hedge fund manager and close his Duquesne Capital Management hedge fund, citing his inability to meet his own expectations and the personal toll of working as a fund manager.
Read complete article by clicking here...

Friday, July 16, 2010

Michael Lau to spin-off Candlewood Investment Group from Credit Suisse

In late September of this year, Credit Suisse Group AG will spin-off two credit hedge funds in response to new regulations that limit the amount of capital that banks may lend hedge funds. According to Bloomberg, the Candlewood Special Situations and Candlewood Credit Value hedge funds will be spun-off as Candlewood Investment Group.

Here is the complete article.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Top hedge fund firm launches of 2010 YTD raise over $700 million

The first six months of 2010 have seen a number of new firm foundings, fund launches, and spin-offs in the hedge fund world, some led by a new generation of young managers and others headed by industry veterans looking to start anew or reassert their investing prowess. But the figures from this year’s halfway point also mark an adjustment to the norms of hedge fund launches. The most noticeable changes are the dramatic fundraising difficulties facing hedge fund managers worldwide: so far this year, not one new hedge fund firm has launched with close to $500 million in assets under management, not to mention anything comparable to the $1 billion raised by Roc Capital Management and its founder Arvind Raghunathan or the $800 million Tony Chedraoui raised for the Tyrus Capital LLP launch last year.

To see complete article click here.

Monday, July 12, 2010

John Paulson’s hedge fund loses 6.9% in June

Paulson & Co.’s Advantage Plus hedge fund logged a 6.9% loss for the month of June, bringing its YTD performance down to -8.8%.
http://www.hedgetracker.com/paulson.php

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Aswath Damodaran discusses US financial overhaul

Industry expert and top NYU Stern professor discusses the financial overhaul that Obama is expected to sign into law in the next few days. Not surprising, Damodaran is not very confident in the bill. http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Damodaran-discusses-the-US-financial-overhaul

Saturday, June 19, 2010

A short guide to the history Hedge Funds

The Wall Street Journal recently published a great article on the history of the hedge fund industry. This is a must read for hedge fund enthusiasts, industry job seekers and hedge fund investors. Enjoy!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294983666012928.html

Friday, June 11, 2010

Global Macro Hedge Funds

I find Global Macro hedge funds to be very fascinating, as they tend to make large bets on macro economic themes. When hedge funds most commonly only invest in equity and debt securities, macro funds invest in a wide array of securities across all asset classes. Amazingly, a number of macro funds never invest in equities.

Here is a recent article about some major macro investors. My favorite is Brevan Howard. Its pretty incredible how they are able to achieve high returns with such a large asset base ($20bn+): http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Top-Global-Macro-Hedge-Funds-Brevan-Howard-Asset-Management-Round-Table-Investment-Management-Balestra-Capital

For a list of top global macro hedge funds, including George Soros, as well as a definition on how they invest, check out:
http://www.hedgetracker.com/directory/Global-Macro

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Hedge Fund Hires

Lot's of big name hedge funds keep hiring top talent. Here is an article that highlights recent hires made by Shumway Capital, Southpaw Asset Management, BlueCrest (which seems to be on a hiring binge), Highland Capital, and GAM.
http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Hedge-Fund-Job-Report-Southpaw-Shumway-Capital-BlueCrest-Capital-Highland-Capital-GAM-Loomis-Sayles

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Top Hedge Funds of 2009

Here an article that highlights the Top Hedge Fund managers as of the end of 2009. Some surprising ones made the list:
http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Top-Hedge-Funds-of-2009-Tiger-Cubs-Dominate-Top-10

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Hedge Funds seek $2 Billion from Porsche in Damages

More hedge fund have joined the lawsuit against Porsche, which accuses the company of wrongdoing in its acquisition of VW. The lawsuit, which is seeking more than $2 billion, was initiated by Glenhill, Elliot Associates, and Perry Partners.

The new additions include: Canyon Capital, DE Shaw, Greelight Capital, Ironbound, Royal Capital and Tiger Global.

For more details see: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/29/business/business-us-porsche.html?dbk
For more details on the above hedge funds see: http://www.hedgetracker.com/directory.php

Monday, April 19, 2010

SkyBridge Capital to acquire Citi Alternative Investments

Citigroup continues to slim down their asset base by selling of business units. Last week they sold off their lucrative hedge fund of funds business which had $4.2 billion in assets under management. Management fees on those asset could account for revenues of $84 million a year, which is before any performance fees, which are typically set at 20% for hedge funds. To read more, see this article: http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/SkyBridge-Capital-to-acquire-Citi-Alternative-Investments-Adding-42-Billion

Saturday, April 10, 2010

BAM Capital and AM Investment to Merge

Hedge fund managers AM Investment Partners and BAM Capital have recently announced that the two firms will merge. According to Bloomberg, the founders of both firms, Ross Berman and Hal Mintz of BAM Capital and Mark Friedman and Adam Stern of AM Investment, will become equal partners. Mr. Stern will continue as CEO of the new firm, while the three other founders will serve a co-chief investment officers.

The two managers anticipate that the larger asset base, $600 million combined, will be more appealing to investors, especially after the under-performance of volatility hedge funds so far this year. No money was exchanged in the merger deal.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last Year

Great article from today's NYTimes about Hedge Fund managers and their pay packages.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01hedge.html?dbk

Saturday, March 6, 2010

What is an activist investor?

Micahel Levin recently launched The Activist Investor, an advisory firm for investment managers that want to employ shareholder activist strategies with their investment companies. Beyond its services, the firm's website also includes great resources for those interested in shareholder activisms. Check it out at: http://www.theactivistinvestor.com/

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Another Madoff Player Charged in Ponzi Scheme

Bernie Madoff's director of operations was finally taken down last week by the SEC, which is charging him with falsifying records and covering up Madoff's ponzi scheme. Interesting that it took them this long to nail down Daniel Bonventre. According to the SEC, Bonventre earned $1.9 billion himself by backdating trades. For more details, check out this article:
http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Another-Madoff-Player-Charged-in-Ponzi-Scheme

Friday, February 26, 2010

Maverick Capital’s Lee Ainslie reviews 2009 and looks ahead to 2010

Hedge fund manager Maverick Capital sent out its fourth-quarter 2009 investor letter earlier this month, detailing both Maverick’s 2009 performance and its predictions for 2010. According to the investor letter, throughout 2009 “fundamental stock-picking was a challenging endeavor as equity markets opened the year with the continuation of last year’s collapse” and as “fundamentals took a backseat to liquidity flooding out of and into the markets as well as to ballooning and collapsing risk premiums.” However, on a smaller-capital basis, “credit, small cap and private equity efforts each generated terrific returns” for Maverick. In industry-specific sectors, only consumer and healthcare generated disappointing returns, and “technology and media & telecom sectors were significant contributors” to performance. Shorting, on the other hand, provided a challenge in 2009 even though Maverick emerged with “slight gains in our short investments in Japan and the credit space.”
See the full article at: http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Maverick-Capitals-Lee-Ainslie-reviews-2009-and-looks-ahead-to-2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Carl Icahn eyes Biotech leader Genzyme Corp

Here is an article on Carl Icahm, one my favorite shareholder activist. In in his latest activist battle, Icahn is taking on troubled biotech company Genzyme Corp.
http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Carl-Icahn-eyes-Biotech-leader-Genzyme-Corp
More details on Mr. Ichan and his hedge fund firm can be out found here:
http://www.hedgetracker.com/icahn.php

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Raising Assets in 2010: What emerging hedge funds and fund of hedge fund managers need to know

Interesting upcoming event from Emerging Manager Focus that will feature industry experts discussing strategies for hedge funds that are raising capital. For more information, please see:
http://www.hedgetracker.com/article/Raising-Assets-in-2010-What-emerging-hedge-funds-and-fund-of-hedge-fund-managers-need-to-know