Paulson gains as ‘Mooch’ rotates to stocks (Business Times)
Hedge Fund manager John Paulson is one of the biggest beneficiaries of a great rotation from bonds to stocks at the firm led by Anthony “the Mooch” Scaramucci. Mr Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital II LLC, a New York-based adviser that allocates client capital to outside money managers, has been moving cash from income-producing hedge funds, such as those that buy bonds, to event-driven funds that bet on stocks. SkyBridge’s main fund of funds steered US$490 million, or 15 per cent of its invested capital, to Mr Paulson’s funds in the six months ended Sept 30, regulatory filings show, as the billionaire manager’s main strategies surged.
Cohen’s SAC ends life as hedge fund with double-digit returns (Reuters)
Billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen‘s SAC Capital Advisors is ending its life as a hedge fund with a 20.10 percent gain this year, marking one of the industry’s best returns even after SAC pleaded guilty to insider trading charges, a source familiar with the numbers said. Cohen reported the number to outside investors on Monday as he prepares to stop managing money for wealthy clients after his firm last month agreed to plead guilty to insider trading and pay a $1.2 billion penalty. One of the conditions of the plea agreement is that Cohen must wind down the business of managing money for outside investors. The fund said it gained a net 1.88 percent between December 1 and December 27, the source said.
David Tepper’s Appaloosa Funds Up Around 38% 2013 Could Be Another Banner Year For Him (Jewish Business News)
In 2012 David Tepper succeeded in achieving a 30 percent gain on the $20 billion that he managed, which entitled him to pay himself $2.2 billion in salary and bonuses then, as well as placing him very much at the top of the ladder on the highly regarded Institutional Investor Alpha’s annual “Rich List” made up of the top 25 hedge fund managers. Now all indications are that in 2013 Tepper may be set to do even better, with his Palomino fund reportedly showing an increase of 38 percent, after management fees for the first 11 months of 2013, up to the end of November. With no signs of the fund losing any impetus whatsoever in December, then David Tepper looks like being one of the few fund managers to register a higher return on investments than the formidable 29.1 percent gain that the S&P 500 itself has reported in the same period.
Third Point Capital Takes Stake In Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ) (WallStreetPR)
Investor Daniel Loeb through his investment vehicle Third Point Capital initiated a stake in Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ). The hedge fund’s stake is valued at less than 5 percent of the U.S. No. 2 car rental company. The activity of this hedge fund offers insightful information about the investment health of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. as a stock. Everyday investors who track hedge funds have typically outperformed their index-focused counterparts. This explains why we shout take a critical look at this latest activity on this stock.
Gottex Readies Fund To Let Main Street Invest Like Wall Street (Financial Advisor Magazine)
Hedge fund firm Gottex Fund Management is readying a new mutual fund that will let retail clients sample asset classes normally reserved for millionaires, like hedge funds, private equity and real estate. The Gottex Endowment Strategy Fund (GTEAX) will be available for purchase later this week after it invests its $100 million in seed capital from the Swiss firm by December 31. Gottex, founded by Joachim Gottschalk in 1992, becomes the latest firm to tap into growing demand from investors for portfolios that promise to make money in good times and bad by being less correlated to broader markets.
Hedge Fund Investor Blackstone Buys Up $200 Million In Crocs Shares (HedgeCo.net)
An affiliate of hedge fund investor giant The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) has acquired $200 million in newly issued series A convertible preferred stock in innovative casual footwear company Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX). In connection with the investment, Crocs announced that it intends to revise its capital structure to accommodate a $350 million stock repurchase program approved by its board of directors. Blackstone will be entitled to two seats on the Crocs board of directors.
Best hedge funds of 2013 (CNBC.com)
Steven Cohen Cuts Asking Price For His New York Apartment To $98 Million – It Wont Fetch The Nine Figures Originally Demanded (Jewish Business News)
The Corcoran group is currently listing for sale a gorgeous 9,000 square feet duplex apartment in New York City, with views of Central Park at 151 East 58th Street. The apartment is currently listed for the modest price of US$98 million. While that is a great deal of money it is already US17 million less than the original asking price a few months ago. The apartment belongs to hedge fund SAC owner Stephen Cohen, who has recently been forced by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to privatize his multi billion dollar hedge fund and turn it into a private office for his own estimated US$9 billion in personal family wealth.
Which hedge funds beat the S&P 500 this year? (Yahoo!7 News)
A roaring S&P 500 Index (^GSPC), up close to 30 percent in 2013, left many hedge funds in the dust. But a number of players managed to top the index with smart stock-picking or distressed investing nonetheless. Driven by large, aggressive positions in a handful of hospitals, health care and consumer services names, the Glenview Capital Opportunity Fund, run by money manager Larry Robbins, churned out returns of 97 percent through late Monday, says someone familiar with the matter.
Higgs Capital Commodities Hedge Fund Closing After 18 Months (San Francisco Chronicle)
Higgs Capital Management LLP, a $250 million commodities hedge fund founded by Neal Shear and Jean Bourlot, is closing after 18 months due to “a lack of capital stability.” Staying open would have required “a significant reduction in expenses along with a restructuring of the fund,” Bourlot, 40, said by e-mail today. The fund returned 7.5 percent since inception, he said. Investors were notified on Dec. 20, he said. “There is a lack of capital stability, and we would have had to change our management culture significantly if we had chosen to go forward,” Bourlot said by phone today. “I still think there is a need for a multi manager commodity hedge fund in alternative management or active management with stable capital.”
Hedge fund top brass pocket £317m (The Sunday Times)
Staff at one of Britain’s top hedge funds have shared a £317m payout despite a bust-up that led to the departure of one of its star managers and co-founders. Jeremy Hosking is believed to have pocketed about one-third of the windfall at Marathon Asset Management after abruptly retiring last year. It is understood that his departure after 26 years was prompted by a fallout with Neil Ostrer and Bill Arah, his co-founders, over control of one of Marathon’s funds. The company delivered record profits in his final year. The accounts for 2012-13 show distributions to members were £317m. The amount paid to the “member with the largest entitlement to profit” — thought to be Hosking — was £104m.
Activism in 2013: The Money Pours In (Wall Street Journal)
The activist investor is becoming Mr. Popular. In 2013, activists grabbed some of the biggest headlines and investors looking to get in on the action poured money into their funds. Through the first three quarters of the year, activist hedge funds added $7.2 billion in net asset inflows, the most since Hedge Fund Research began tracking activist funds. Total assets in activist funds — a small sliver of all hedge-funds assets — stand at $89 billion, an all-time high and up 36% from last year, HFR data show. Marcos Veremis, a managing director at Cambridge Associates, which advises large institutions, endowments and families on where to invest, has also recorded the growing popularity. Since the start of 2010, a list of top activist funds he tracks have grown by about 65% from asset inflows, he said, outpacing the broader hedge fund world.
