Softer sales slam Sears with fourth-quarter loss (NYPost)
Sears CEO Eddie Lampert admitted the retailer had a “tough-to-terrible” holiday season, but insisted the company’s strategy was a model for other chains. “I believe the entire retail industry is headed to where we already are,” Lampert wrote in a Thursday letter to shareholders — a message that many might find chilling, given Sears’ increasingly disastrous results. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) was slammed by a fourth-quarter loss of $358 million as revenue sank 14 percent, to $10.6 billion. The company narrowed the loss from $489 million a year earlier, but did so by selling off assets.
Investor Ackman to detail Herbalife’s China business on call (Reuters)
Billionaire investor William Ackman, who has long claimed Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is a fraud, on Friday said he would provide proof next month that the nutrition and weight-loss company is running a pyramid scheme in China. Ackman launched his latest broadside against Herbalife on Friday morning in a short press release that promises details about his investigation into the company’s business in China. He will hold a conference call on March 11. “The report will show that Herbalife’s business in China operates much like the company’s business in the rest of the world – as a pyramid scheme,” the release said.
Hedge fund industry performance attracts institutional investors (HedgeWeek)
Low interest rates and unfunded pension fund liabilities are encouraging institutional investors to re-think their allocations to traditional assets like equities and bonds, and seek alternative sources of income and growth. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) analysis of the industry found the average (median) hedge fund generated alpha of 3.1 per cent against an index return of 9.1 per cent (HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index) in 2013. Mark Woolley, Head of European and Asian Hedge Fund Research at BlackRock Alternative Advisors,says: “Hedge funds often get compared to standard equities benchmarks, but institutional investors don’t look at them this way.
$12 Million Fraud: Over 5 Years In Jail For Hedge Fund Manager (HedgeCo)
A NY hedge fund manager was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison for defrauding investors in a $12 million scheme, Reuters reports this morning. Lloyd Barringer pled guilty in July 2013 to four counts of fraud: securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The charges stem from his operation of the Gaffken & Barriger Fund LLC, which was based in Monticello, Sullivan County, New York. Barriger was the president of the hedge fund and the principal shareholder, director, and officer of G&B Partners, Inc., the fund’s managing member and sole common shareholder. He surrendered to the FBI in May 2011.
Schroders joins BlackRock by spending on data teams (eFinancialNews)
Schroders is hiring staff in house as well as buying in the expertise from specialist external IT businesses, while BlackRock has already developed its Scientific Active Equity team, a unit set up to enhance the business’ stock selection process and inform investment decisions. These teams are designed to interpret the vast amount of information now available digitally from social media, local and professional news sites, company announcements, conference call transcripts and regulatory filings. Technical staff then design algorithms to catalogue data into structured lists which can give a sentiment score to inform the investment review process.
Stream Capital Hires Structured Credit Specialist (Finalternatives)
Geneva-based Stream Capital has hired Fabrice Toledano as director covering structured credit. Toledano has been working in the banking and hedge fund industry for over 12 years in Paris, London and Geneva and was most recently in charge of global macro hedge funds investments at Unigestion in Geneva. Prior to that, he worked at structuring and trading credit and hedge fund-linked derivatives at Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) and Credit Agricole Indosuez in London. “As we are growing and acquiring more market share in the secondary alternative investment sphere, we are very pleased that Fabrice has joined our team,” says Stream Capital founder Robert JC Leach.
Watson Wheatley reports contract win (Finextra)
Watson Wheatley Financial Systems (WWFS), specialist reconciliation software providers, have announced another client win; a London based fixed-income hedge fund. The new project comes on the back of an extremely successful 2013 and WWFS winning Reconciliation & Data Aggregation Software Provider of the Year – UK at the 2014 International Hedge Fund Awards.
Men’s suit saga (CNBC)
EBay founder rebuts Icahn, defends plan to retain PayPal (TulsaWorld)
eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY)‘s founder Pierre Omidyar on Thursday said billionaire investor Carl Icahn‘s claims that the company is not operating in the best manner for shareholders aren’t merited. In three letters to shareholders over three days, Icahn has urged the company to split off its PayPal unit, which is the fastest growing unit of the e-commerce company and accounts for about 40 percent of its revenue. Icahn has also leveled attacks at two directors and company CEO John Donahoe. In his latest letter, Icahn said responses to his letters from “eBay’s public relations machines” aren’t sticking to the facts.
Marc Faber: Buy Vietnam, hold gold (MoneyWeek)
Hong Kong-based Marc Faber, who famously foresaw the commodities boom of the last decade and the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, has long touted Asia’s potential. He remained bullish on the region at the annual roundtable discussion of investment experts hosted by Barron’s. “I have seen Macau go from a sleepy village to a gambling centre seven times the size of Las Vegas,” says Faber. “Chinese tourism in Thailand grew by 90% last year.” Tourism is one reason he’s keen on Vietnam.
Could this be the key to success on Wall Street? Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio thinks so (Yahoo)
A string of recent deaths within the banking world have brought global attention to the stressful conditions that financiers work in and around. Large banks have attempted to respond to the problem by limiting working hours on the weekends but the effectiveness and ability to enforce those rules have come into question. Studies have found that stockbrokers are three times more likely to suffer from depression than the general adult population. Excess stress is a leading cause of heart and brain disease. So what’s a banker to do? Some prominent investors have taken to transcendental meditation (TM). Some teach the relaxation method to their entire company. The technique requires 20 minutes of silent meditation two times a day and is popular with folks like Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio (who offers TM to his 400 employees), Bill Gross, Dan Loeb, Nigol Koulajian (Quest Partners) and Kevin Kimberlin (Spencer Trask & Co).
“Alternative” or “Hedged” Mutual Funds: What Are They, How Do They Work, and Should You Invest? (Forbes)
Bear markets are devastating, bull markets a beautiful sight to behold, but nothing gets Wall Street more excited than the dawn of a new financial product that brings with it lucrative client flows. Thus despite the weather, the mood in luncheon conversations during my trip to New York last week was downright giddy. The excitement is over a new frontier for the hedge fund industry: mutual funds. Over the past few years, a combination of industry shifts and regulatory changes has led to a number of alternative investment firms entering the mutual fund market. If you haven’t yet come across “hedged mutual funds” or “alternative mutual funds”, chances are you probably will soon. This newer breed of mutual fund purports to deliver hedge fund- like exposure, but is available in a mutual fund structure.
Winton Capital CEO Resigns (WSJ)
Tony Fenner- Leitão, chief executive of Winton Capital Group, Europe’s fourth-largest hedge fund by assets under management, has resigned and will be replaced in the role by the firm’s founder and executive chairman David Harding, the company said Friday. Mr. Fenner -Leitão, a former executive director at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) +0.22% joined Winton Capital in 2008, becoming deputy to Anthony Daniell in 2012 before succeeding him as chief executive in early January last year. He has stepped down as chief executive of the company, which manages roughly $25 billion in assets, according to a statement, which added that Mr. Harding, who founded the firm in February 1997, would assume Mr. Fenner-Leitão’s duties.
Riverbed rejects Elliott’s raised takeover offer (HedgeWorld)
Network gear maker Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD) rejected Elliott Management’s raised bid of $3.36 billion, saying the hedge fund’s offer undervalued the company. Elliott on Tuesday [Feb. 25] increased its offer by $2 per share to $21 per share and said it could raise the bid if allowed access to Riverbed’s books for due diligence. Riverbed said on Friday its board unanimously determined not to pursue Elliott’s offer, which was not in the best interests of shareholders. “Riverbed board has again failed shareholders … (the) board has clearly chosen entrenchment over shareholder value,” Elliott, which holds a 10.5 percent stake in Riverbed, said in response.
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