T. Boone Pickens Closes Energy Hedge Fund, Cites Diminishing Health (CNBC)
Legendary energy investor T. Boone Pickens is shutting the doors on his energy hedge fund, BP Capital. Pickens cited declining health as a reason for closing the fund. “It’s no secret the past year has not been good to me, from a health perspective or a financial one,” Pickens said in a confidential letter obtained by CNBC. “Health-wise, I’m still recovering from a series of strokes I suffered late last year, and a major fall over the summer. If you are lucky enough to make it to 89 years of age like I have, those things tend to put life in perspective.”
Rosenstein’s Jana Sees Assets Plunge in Half in Two Years (Bloomberg)
Jana Partners, the event-driven hedge fund run by Barry Rosenstein, has lost more than half its assets in about two years as performance waned. Jana managed $4.6 billion firmwide as of December, down from $11 billion in August 2015, according to an investor letter seen by Bloomberg. The Jana Partners Fund gained 5.6 percent last year and 2.3 percent in 2016, lagging behind the HFRI event-driven index in both periods.
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Bridgewater Billionaire Ray Dalio’s Quest for ‘Radical Transparency’ (Financial Times)
It is high noon in the saloon of the Jackson Hole burger bar in midtown Manhattan and I am butting heads with Ray Dalio, head of the world’s largest hedge fund. A few minutes earlier, the famed financier had turned up for lunch, trailing a spokesman who asked to join our meal and “check” any quotes.
“No!” I tell Dalio. He cuts a discreet figure in slacks and an expensive-looking cardigan but his stance is confident and forceful, as you might expect from a “master of the universe”.
Cohen Loses Another Top Trader Before Hedge Fund Launches (Bloomberg)
Steve Cohen’s new hedge fund is hitting a little turbulence. One of Point72 Asset Management’s senior staff — Jeff Miller, co-head of U.S. trading — has left the firm, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not be identified. Miller had spent more than a decade working for Cohen. He follows global head of trading Phil Villhauer, who, as Bloomberg News reported in October, was leaving after 15 years.
Oil Prices Ease from 3-Year Highs After Brent Crude Rockets Above $70 a Barrel (CNBC)
“I think it starts to get difficult for us to get much higher from here,” said John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital. “I think we’re probably in the process of topping out as we speak.” Kilduff forecast last week that Brent would take aim at $70 a barrel and U.S. crude could break into the $65-$67 range. But high prices will tempt OPEC members and other producers to start pumping, he said.
