Hedge Fund News: Tom Sandell, Carl Icahn, Paul Singer

D.E. Shaw and Bright Plain Buy 7.1 Megawatts of Solar in Indiana (Bloomberg)
D.E. Shaw & Co., a $36 billion hedge fund, and Bright Plain Renewable Energy LLC acquired two solar projects in Indianapolis with a combined capacity of 7.1 megawatts. Community Energy Inc. is developing the Marion projects on industrial property including a former landfill, according to a statement Thursday. KeyCorp provided financing. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Piggybacking Icahn, Other Activists Beats Market (CNBC)
Buying stocks that are the targets of activists such as Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman beats the market, according to a study this week from S&P Capital IQ. The winning returns were based on buying after the activists’ stakes were filed with the SEC, meaning investors don’t have to get the same price as these heavy hitters to ride their coattails successfully.

6 Stocks To Buy…According To Hedge Funds (CNN Money)
Hedge funds are the all-star teams on Wall Street. They command the highest fees and attract many of the best investing minds. Looking at what the 50 biggest hedge funds are buying and selling is akin to looking at what the Ivy League universities are doing. They’re trendsetters. This doesn’t mean they always get it right. Even the top investors have their blunder years (Paulson & Co. certainly had a lackluster 2014, enough to knock founder John Paulson out of the top 25 highest paid hedge fund manager list).

Hedge Fund Managers Stung By ‘Class Warfare’ Rhetoric (CNBC)
Hedge fund investments are finally outperforming, but the public image of their managers is taking a beating. President Barack Obama called the group “society’s lottery winners” last week, noting that the top 25 earning hedge fund managers made more in 2014 ($11.6 billion) than the roughly 158,000 kindergarten teachers in the U.S. did combined ($8.5 billion).