Hedge Fund News: Bill Ackman, Seth Klarman, Viking Global

Ackman Says Valeant Has No Current Plans To Sell Core Assets (CNBC)
Valeant Pharmaceuticals has no plans to sell core assets like Bausch & Lomb, according to board member Bill Ackman. He told CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Thursday that while it’s likely there will come a day where the pharmaceutical company sells a lot of its non-core assets, Bausch & Lomb will not be one. In fact, Ackman says it’s possible that in the future, the brand could become “an even more dominant part of the franchise.” He said Valeant may someday even rename itself Bausch & Lomb.

Hedge Fund That Bet On Terror Lawsuit Is Accused Of Fraud By SEC (The Wall Street Journal)
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued hedge-fund firm RD Legal Capital LLC on Thursday, accusing it and its owner, Roni Dersovitz, of defrauding investors by misrepresenting the types of assets it held and by assigning improper values to those assets. The firm, known for making a controversial bet on the outcome of terrorism litigation, marketed its funds as a way to profit from expected settlements, but instead “invested the funds’ money however they saw fit,” the SEC said. Mr. Dersovitz didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Investing: Hedge Funds Facing Heavy Pressure To Cut Fees (CNBC)
The hedge fund industry’s storied 2-and-20 fee structure finally may be on its way out. After years of underperformance and in the face of growing competition elsewhere for the deep-pocketed investor’s dollar, hedge fund investors are clamoring for lower costs. The current structure, which charges 2 percent of assets annually and 20 percent of return, has long been a sticking point, but the demand for change has grown in recent years.

Quantedge Hedge Fund Jumps 12% in June as Brexit Roils Markets (Bloomberg)
Quantedge Global Fund gained 12 percent last month to return almost three times as much as global peers, as bond holdings gained amid the market dislocation that followed the unexpected U.K. decision to leave the European Union. The June gains brought first-half returns at the $1.3 billion Singapore-based fund, which uses quantitative models to bet on global macro themes, to 40 percent, according to a newsletter to clients obtained by Bloomberg News. The HFRI Macro Systematic Diversified Index, which tracks similar strategies, rose 4.4 percent in June and 4.5 percent year to date, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc. in Chicago.