Hong Kong Hedge Fund Azentus Gets Smaller (The Wall Street Journal)
Investors have withdrawn nearly $500 million from one of Hong Kong’s most high-profile hedge-fund managers, Azentus Capital Management Ltd., in the wake of lackluster performance. Azentus’s assets under management stood at $139 million as of April 1, according to a letter sent to investors and seen by The Wall Street Journal. Azentus started trading with $1 billion in April 2011 amid much fanfare. Investors flocked to the hot new fund, sending assets to a peak of around $2 billion within months, the people said. It continues to manage outside capital, according to people familiar with the fund.
Hedge Fund JAT Says It’s Closing to Become Family Office (Bloomberg)
John Thaler, founder of JAT Capital, is returning client money to turn his $1.7 billion hedge fund firm into a family office. “As I approach my 20th anniversary working in the financial services industry, with the last eight spent building and managing JAT Capital, it is the right moment to take a break, spend time with my young family and determine which path to pursue next,” Thaler, 39, wrote in a letter to investors, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg.
Argentine Bonds Fall After Hedge Fund Asks to Block Payment (Bloomberg)
Argentine bonds issued under local law, which have continued to get paid after the country’s July default, declined after hedge fund Aurelius Capital Management said it’s seeking to block the payments. The nation’s 2024 bonds reversed earlier gains and slid 0.25 cent to 98.17 cents on the dollar, pushing yields up 0.05 percentage point to 9.1 percent at 5 p.m. New York time.
Oil Rallies As hedge Funds Are Caught Short: Kemp (Reuters)
Oil’s sharp rally since the middle of March has been driven by a race among bearish hedge funds to cover loss-making short positions rather than any great bullishness about the outlook. On the eve of the rally, hedge funds and other money managers had amassed record short positions in WTI-linked futures and options amounting to 209 million barrels of oil. But in the seven weeks between March 17 and May 5, hedge funds cut their shorts by almost 116 million barrels to 93 million, a decline of more than 55 percent.
Canada Stocks Decline in Global Equities Slide; Air Canada Gains (Bloomberg)
Canadian stocks declined for a second day, joining a slide among global equities, as health-care companies led losses. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., an investment target of hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman, slid 1.6 percent to pace declines. Concordia Healthcare Corp. fell 1.7 percent. Veresen Inc. and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. dropped more than 2.9 percent as oil and gas producers resumed declines. Air Canada jumped 4.1 percent after reporting profit that topped estimates.
