Steven Spielberg and George Soros Stock Senate Democratic Super-PAC (Bloomberg)
George Soros, Laurene Powell Jobs and Steven Spielberg are among the biggest donors to the campaign to keep Harry Reid the Senate majority leader. Soros and Powell Jobs (Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs’s widow) each gave $500,000, and Spielberg donated $250,000 last month to Senate Majority PAC, a super-PAC run by the Nevada senator’s political advisers to defend the Democrats’ 55-45 Senate majority. It’s the main Democratic outside group trying to block Republicans from making a net gain of six seats. Ian Cumming, the former CEO of Leucadia National Corporation, and the Arkansas-based HFNWA, LLC each gave $1 million to Senate Majority PAC last month. The American Federation of Teachers contributed $850,000.
Hedge funds climb market wall of worry (FT)
Bull markets, as the saying goes, must always drag themselves up a wall of worry. For hedge funds, many of which have been asking how long the calm in markets can last, that wall must now appear to have grown several metres. Last week saw the return of market swings reminiscent of the deepest days of the financial crisis, with the 10 year US Treasury bond gyrating wildly in just a matter of minutes. While Treasury yields, which move inversely to their prices, eventually rose back to close to where they started the day, the sharp move has compelled some fund managers to reappraise their view on where markets are heading.
Danish pension funds now required to report hedge fund use (PIOnline)
Denmark’s Financial Supervisory Authority will require pension funds to submit quarterly reports on their alternative investments to track their use of hedge funds, exposure to private equity and infrastructure projects. The decision follows pension funds’ failures to account adequately for risks in their investment strategies, according to the FSA. The regulatory clampdown of the $500 billion industry comes as Denmark, home to the world’s top-ranked pension system, deals with risks it says are inherent to a system due to be introduced across the European Union in 2016.
Argentina Hedge Fund Startup Leverages Rich Client Money (FA-Mag)
Three years ago, Daniel Melhem was kicked off a government delegation from Argentina that was trying to drum up investors from the Middle East after he said no one would be interested. Now, the 44-year-old investment adviser says he’s gotten so many phone calls from clients asking about Argentina in the past year he decided to start a hedge fund dedicated to buying the nation’s securities. Melhem, who headed Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s private-wealth management for Brazil, Argentina and Chile before founding Knightsbridge Partners Ltd. in 2003, plans to raise $150 million from 10 to 20 wealthy families from Latin America, the Middle East and Europe and start investing before year-end.
Tom Steyer’s flood of campaign money hits $55 million to NextGen (SunlightFoundation)
Environmentally-minded billionaire Tom Steyer gave another $15 million to his NextGen Climate Action in September, his outside spending group whose $20 million in campaign spending last month made it September’s No. 1 spender. The donation also brings Steyer’s super PAC contributions for the 2014 cycle to an eye-popping $55.9 million. An analysis of the latest campaign filings using Sunlight’s Real-Time Federal Campaign Finance tracker provides a revealing view of how the spenders we know about are positioned in the final weeks before the election.
Hedge fund rising star’s best ideas (CNBC)
Two Bridgewater Funds Suffer Setbacks in Third Quarter (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
Raymond Dalio‘s Bridgewater Associates suffered a big setback in the third quarter. His Bridgewater Pure Alpha Fund II lost 4.5 percent in the September quarter, while Bridgewater Pure Alpha Major Markets II shed 3.7 percent. As a result, their gains for the year have been cut, to 2.9 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively, says an investor in the funds. According to a fund of fund with an investment in the two macro funds, the Westport, Connecticut-based hedge fund firm suffered the bulk of its losses in commodities and some currency pairs.
SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator: October notifications 3.12% (HedgeCo)
Today SS&C GlobeOp announced that its Forward Redemption Indicator for October shows notifications of 3.12%. This figure is down from 3.25% in September. “October’s forward redemptions decreased slightly from September, but remain in line with historical averages,” said Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SS&C Technologies. The SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator represents the sum of forward redemption notices received from investors in hedge funds administered by SS&C GlobeOp on the SS&C GlobeOp platform, divided by the AuA at the beginning of the month for SS&C GlobeOp fund administration clients on the SS&C GlobeOp platform.
Son of Billionaire George Soros To Co-host Fundraiser For KS ‘Independent’ Greg Orman (BreitBart)
He is a man of principle whose votes in Congress will depend upon which way the wind is blowing. “I think what I’ve said and what I’ve been clear about since the beginning is if one party or the other is in the majority, I will seek to caucus with the party that is in the majority,” Orman said. He may not caucus with the Democrats, but he will certainly fund-raise with them. The son of left-wing billionaire George Soros, will co-host a fundraiser for Orman in New York on Wednesday.
Ex-SAC manager Martoma loses bail bid as judge doubts appeal (Business-Standard)
Ex-SAC Capital Advisors LP portfolio manager Mathew Martoma lost a bid to remain free while he fights a conviction for perpetrating the most lucrative insider trading scheme in US history, as a federal judge expressed doubt that his appeal will succeed. Martoma is scheduled to begin his nine-year prison sentence on November 10. US District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan, in rejecting the request for bail, said the hedge fund manager failed to show that his appeal raised issues likely to get a reversal of the jury verdict by the US Court of Appeals. Gardephe called the evidence presented at trial “overwhelming.”
Eton Park Ekes Out a Gain, Remains Upbeat (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
Eric Mindich‘s Eton Park hedge funds barely eked out gains of less than 1 percent in the third quarter. As a result, the multistrategy funds, managed by Mindich’s New York-based Eton Park Capital Management, are up about 2 percent, depending on the share class, excluding their special investments, according to the firm’s third-quarter letter, obtained by Alpha. The share classes that also include those illiquid investments are up less than 1 percent for the year, as the special investments posted a loss of 3.6 percent in the third quarter and 9.14 percent for the year to date, according to the letter.
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