Hedge funds drop objection to IBRC’s US bankruptcy move (IrishTimes)
Two funds linked to US billionaire hedge fund owner Paul Singer have dropped their objection to the former Anglo Irish Bank’s application for bankruptcy protection in the United States. The funds, associated with Mr Singer’s Elliott Management, withdrew their challenge to the petition yesterday after the Delaware bankruptcy court blocked their request for access to official records revealing the Government’s decision-making behind the emergency liquidation of the bank in February.
Brevan Said to Start Fund Run by Ex-Deutsche Bank Team (BusinessWeek)
Brevan Howard Capital Management LP has started an investment fund run by a team of former Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) market strategists in New York, as Europe’s second-biggest hedge-fund firm expands its presence in the U.S. The Brevan Howard Strategic Macro Fund is managed by Vinay Pande, a former chief investment adviser at Deutsche Bank who joined the firm a year ago, said two people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the hedge fund isn’t yet raising money from clients. It seeks to combine Pande’s research of what assets should outperform with Jersey-based Brevan Howard’s ability to structure trades and manage risk, according to the people.
Hedge Fund Closures Can’t Slow Retail-Merger Flurry: Currencies (Bloomberg)
FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM), the largest retail currency broker in the U.S., is leading a wave of buyouts and mergers in this corner of the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market as tougher regulation increases costs. In the past month, New York-based FXCM bought a 50.1 percent stake in rival Faros Trading LLC and the American retail accounts of Alpari U.S. LLC. Gain Capital Holdings Inc. acquired Global Futures & Forex Ltd., Oanda Corp. bought Boston-based Currensee Global Inc., and Swissquote Group Holding SA (SQN) agreed to purchase competitor MIG Bank for an undisclosed price.
Orso to launch technically-driven equity hedge fund (HedgeWeek)
Orso Capital Management plans to launch the Quadrant Plus Partners Strategy, an equity hedge fund that seeks long-term growth. Andrew Lydon, who founded the fund in March 2013 and is chief executive officer and chief investment officer, has 11 years of portfolio management expertise and has successfully launched two other hedge funds.
Sony boss says no acrimony with hedge fund billionaire (ET)
Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)‘s chief executive today brushed off suggestions of bitter relations with a US hedge fund boss after the company rejected his call to spin off its entertainment arm. The affair was widely portrayed as a clash of corporate cultures, pitting a hard-charging foreign billionaire against one of the bedrocks of Japan’s staid corporate sector. But today, Kazuo Hirai said there was no acrimony with hedge fund Third Point or its founder Daniel Loeb, known for his aggressive style in forcing change at target companies.
Time to hedge against a U.S. default? (FierceFinance)
Will the U.S. debt default near-crisis — it could unfortunately explode into a full-on crisis — spawn an epic trade? One that will generate billions in profits for some lucky hedge fund manager? We’ve such trades before. Remember when George Soros got the best of the BOE? Remember the lucky few who not only predicted the housing collapse but also devised clever ways to bet on such a collapse? One of the big winners in the real estate crisis was recently asked if he was hedged against the possibility of default, and his answer was somewhat surprising.
Meredith Whitney’s hedge fund adventure (CNBC)
Hedge Fund Elliott Clings to Kabel Stock in Vodafone Buyout (BusinessWeek)
Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (KD8) shareholder Elliott Management Corp. is holding out as Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) attempts to persuade investors to cash out so it can complete its takeover of the German cable company. Elliott hasn’t reduced its 11 percent holding since September, when investors were asked to tender their Kabel Deutschland shares to Vodafone, the German company said at a shareholder meeting in Munich today. The hedge fund may be betting it can force a higher price from Vodafone using that strategy, a person familiar with the takeover offer said last month.
$10 billion UK hedge fund heads Stateside (CNN)
Odey Asset Management, a $10 billion hedge fund based in London, is opening a U.S. office in New York, Fortune has learned. It will be led by new head of U.S. sales Tom Trowbridge, who previously was head of marketing for Lombard Odier’s 1798 Investment Strategies Fund. In an email to friends and colleagues, Trowbridge wrote of Odey: Besides the flagship global equity long/short hedge fund which has compounded at 14% over the past 21 years, the firm also offers several funds in European equity and global macro strategies.
Lavish nights at Club Godfather opened door to Japan pension fund bribery case (Reuters)
When a Tokyo-based investment manager set out to win business from a pension fund in northern Japan, the cost included dozens of nights drinking at Club Godfather, a discreet watering hole with a $200 cover charge and kimono-clad hostesses. Kazuyoshi Takahama, now 71, was treated to more than 50 nights out at the club in Sapporo as KTOs Capital Partners, a hedge fund, lobbied for a share of the $245 million pension fund he helped oversee as its chairman, prosecutors say. Takahama favored shochu, a local liquor, while his free-spending hosts ordered up expensive wines.
Market Mood Swings Sway Popular Hedge Fund Stocks (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
Now, this is what you call volatility. The first eight trading days of the fourth quarter have been especially rocky and unpredictable for several of the equity market’s highest-flying stocks, many of which are widely owned by hedge funds. Some of these stocks fell by double-digit percentages in just the first five or six days of October at the same time that the S&P 500 dropped a modest 2 percent or so.
Hedge fund shaking up Microsoft is a kinder, gentler barbarian (CNN)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s management’s biggest worry these days may not be Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), but an investor out of San Francisco. Earlier this year, Jeffrey Ubben announced at a conference that his hedge fund ValueAct had bought $2 billion worth of Microsoft’s shares. The investment might have been seen as a vote of confidence in Microsoft and its management. But in late August, Microsoft (MSFT) said long-time CEO Steve Ballmer would be leaving in the next 12 months. Now some investors are reportedly pushing the board to oust chairman Bill Gates. Ubben and ValueAct have never publicly criticized Ballmer or Gates.
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