Activist Investor Alta Fox Pushes to Replace Hasbro Chairman (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Alta Fox Capital Management LLC is seeking to oust Hasbro Inc’s chairman and two other directors, as the activist investor pushes for changes at the toymaker including a spin-off of it Wizards of the Coast unit. Alta Fox, a firm founded four years ago by hedge fund veteran Connor Haley and which owns a 2.5% stake in Hasbro, said the company’s chairman, Rich Stoddart, is “unqualified to continue serving”.
Bridgewater’s Top Strategist Says Fed Has to Ramp Up Rate Hikes (Bloomberg)
Rebecca Patterson has a message for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell: It’s time to get even more hawkish. The chief investment strategist at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, says interest rates will need to rise a lot higher than Powell thinks in order to tame inflation. The aggressive policy tightening that’s expected will continue to lift yields of all maturities, which helps explain why the firm is shorting Treasuries across the curve.
Archegos Owner Bill Hwang, Former CFO Patrick Halligan Charged with Fraud (CNBC)
Archegos Capital Management’s owner, Bill Hwang, and its former chief financial officer, Patrick Halligan, were arrested Wednesday in connection with the implosion of the family office last year. The men are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court later Wednesday and are being charged with racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. district court.
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Hedge Fund Elliot Management Backs Mondee SPAC Deal (Hedge Week)
Hedge fund Elliott Management is to invest in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), according to a report by the Financial Times. SPACs have fallen out of favour with many investors in recent months, but Elliott, along with New York investment firm Siris Capital, is to invests $20 million in a SPAC deal for travel tech group Mondee. The deal values Mondee at $1 billion.
Expert Hedge Fund Manager Cathie Wood Stands Against the Tides (TipRanks)
Technology stocks that were performing exceedingly well during the pandemic have tumbled dreadfully since the world has started to return to normalcy. Accelerated economic growth, rising interest rates, and unfavorable geopolitical scenarios have all dragged down the tech sector among the larger growth stock buckets. Investors are flocking to safer havens and value stocks that seem to provide better market protection. Amid all the chaos, it becomes increasingly difficult to cherry-pick stocks and even more tedious to hold on to our convictions. In times like these, it would be wise to follow the convictions of sharper minds that manage billions of dollars of investors’ money through hedge funds.
Icahn wants to shine light on ESG hypocrisy, challenges McDonald’s (Opalesque)
Carl Icahn, who is a shareholder of McDonald’s Corporation, filed a definitive proxy statement and issued an open letter to shareholders last week, saying McDonald’s’ Board of Directors was failing shareholders and stakeholders by presiding over animal welfare violations, supply chain lapses and “what I perceive to be a hollow environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda.” “I want to shine a light on what may be the biggest hypocrisy of our time,” he writes, “a large number of Wall Street firms and their bankers and lawyers appear to be capitalizing on ESG to drive profits without doing nearly enough to support tangible societal progress. These players seem to be engaged in a cover-up to downplay their ESG-related economic incentives and promote their purported social impact. Clearly, the ESG status quo on Wall Street needs to change.”
Research Note: Public Equity Markets Send Ominous Message for Venture Capital (Preqin)
A wave of liquidity has prompted public equity markets to play the role of venture capital in the post-pandemic environment, but the tide is going out. Recent technological advances have given investors reason to be excited about innovative venture-backed companies. Lockdowns have helped accelerate the adoption of trends such as ecommerce and remote learning – which are likely to only partially reverse with the lifting of restrictions.
Bain Capital’s Pagliuca Makes Final Pitch for Chelsea FC (Bloomberg Quint)
(Bloomberg) — Bain Capital co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca will present his takeover bid for Chelsea Football Club to executives of the west London team today, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the battle for one of the biggest names in world sports nears its endgame. Pagliuca is the last remaining bidder to make his pitch, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. His consortium will outline plans for running Chelsea and the development of its Stamford Bridge stadium, the person said.
Hedge Funds Put the Brakes on Private Investing (Institutional Investor)
Five previously active firms in the private space have made no new investments in April, while one of the most active firms has made only three new private investments. Investing in private companies screeched almost to a stop in April. Hedge funds that were previously active in the private markets have either halted or sharply slowed down their activity this month. At least five firms made no new investments in April…
Wednesday 4/27 Insider Buying Report: FCX, DAL (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold’s Director, Hugh Grant, made a $501,225 purchase of FCX, buying 12,300 shares at a cost of $40.75 a piece. Grant was up about 5.3% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with FCX trading as high as $42.91 in trading on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold is trading up about 6% on the day Wednesday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Grant in the past twelve months. And at Delta Air Lines, there was insider buying on Friday, by Director Greg Creed who bought 11,000 shares for a cost of $44.03 each, for a trade totaling $484,352. This buy marks the first one filed by Creed in the past twelve months. Delta Air Lines is trading up about 0.9% on the day Wednesday. Bargain hunters are able to bag DAL at a price even lower than Creed did, with shares changing hands as low as $41.81 at last check today — that’s 5.0% below Creed’s purchase price.
Executives Buy Around $413M Of 3 Stocks (Benzinga)
Carvana: The Trade: Carvana Co. (CVNA) 10% owner Verde Investments Inc acquired a total of 5,100,000 shares at at an average price of $80.00. To acquire these shares, it cost around $408 million. HashiCorp: The Trade: HashiCorp, Inc. (HCP) 10% owner GGV Capital Select L.P. acquired a total of 62,567 shares at an average price of $48.11. To acquire these shares, it cost around $3.01 million.
