Hedge Funds Get Jostled by Inversions’ Jiggles (WSJ)
Buying shares of Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) has been one of the most popular hedge-fund bets of the year. It also has been among the most nerve-racking. Hedge funds Paulson & Co., Magnetar Financial LLC and Elliott Management Corp. are among eight firms that have together snapped up more than $8 billion of Shire stock, or about 17% of the Dublin pharmaceutical company, anticipating a big payoff if its $54 billion purchase by AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) -0.08% is completed. The collective bet is one of the biggest wagers on a deal in recent memory, some hedge-fund managers said.
Nawaz meets philanthropist George Soros (Tribune)
The premier informed Soros about steps taken by the government to universalise primary education and appreciated his foundation’s work in Pakistan. The Open Society Foundation undertook rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake devastated eight districts, four in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and four in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The foundation has also established a think-tank in Lahore and the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives.
Brevan Howard vs Rokos trial postponed to March 2015 (Reuters)
A Jersey court has postponed the trial date for a case involving leading hedge fund Brevan Howard and its co-founder Christopher Rokos to March 2015, to determine whether the former star trader can launch a new rival firm. Rokos, who made about $4 billion for Brevan’s main fund between 2004 and 2012, filed a lawsuit in May seeking to overturn an agreement with the firm preventing him from starting his own fund and raising money from investors until 2018.
JP Morgan markets RMBS with weak investor protection (IFR)
Even though the new US$483m transaction is backed by mortgages to high-quality borrowers, some in the market are anxious about what they say are problems across the asset class. As one hedge fund investor who has bought Redwood Trust jumbo deals put it: “We participated in a number of the earlier Sequoia deals last year – and got burned on them.” In addition, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM)’s new deal – dubbed JPMMT 2014-IVR3 and backed by 551 loans – is relatively weak on representations and warranties framework, DBRS rating agency said in a report.
HedgeFund People: BTIG Expands With 2 New Hires (HedgeCo)
BTIG LLC, a global financial services firm specializing in institutional trading, investment banking and related brokerage services, is expanding its Futures and Commodities desk with the hires of Eric Silverman and Jordan Lichtenstein. Eric and Jordan are based in BTIG’s New York office and will report to Robert Gagnon, Head of Commodity Futures. “These hires complement the expertise of the Futures and Commodities desk and will broaden our reach into the energy segment of the futures and OTC market,” said Gagnon. “Between Eric’s buy-side experience and Jordan’s sell-side experience, we can offer our clients balanced insight from both the institutional and commercial client base.”
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