Hedge Fund Cheyne Raising Cash for Debt Oversold in Pandemic (Bloomberg)
London-based hedge fund Cheyne Capital is planning a new vehicle to buy up debt that’s been excessively punished by the coronavirus selloff, the latest in a number of investment firms targeting distressed credit. The firm is seeking to raise 300 million euros ($325 million) and will launch the fund as soon as next month, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Cheyne will buy up bonds and loans that it deems are now cheap and sell them once they’ve recovered, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. A spokeswoman for Cheyne declined to comment on the new vehicle.
Activist Investor Elliott Pushes Alexion Pharma to Sell Itself (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Hedge fund Elliott Management on Tuesday publicly called on Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc to sell itself, arguing that management’s steps, including recent plans to acquire a smaller company, were leading in the wrong direction. “The best approach for the Company and its stakeholders is the immediate exploration of a sale,” Elliott Associates said in the letter, made public one day before Alexion’s annual shareholder meeting.
‘This is the Crisis of My Lifetime’: George Soros Explains How the Pandemic Erased the Old Status Quo and Created Unknown Consequences for Capitalism’s Future (Business Insider)
The liberal billionaire investor George Soros called the coronavirus pandemic and its ensuing effects an “unprecedented event” with uncertain consequences for the future of capitalism. In an interview with the European Council of Foreign Affairs published Tuesday, Soros laid out the earth-shaking ramifications of a pandemic that’s wreaked havoc on individuals and thrown the global economy into a tailspin.
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Northern Trust Wins Asset Servicing Mandate for Singapore-based Hedge Fund (GlobalCustodian.com)
Northern Trust has been appointed by Modular Asset Management, a specialist Asian macro alternative investment manager spun out of US hedge fund giant Millennium Capital Management, for a new asset servicing mandate. Under the agreement, Northern Trust will provide a range of custody, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing, collateral management and risk compliance monitoring services to Modular’s newly-launched Cayman Islands–domiciled Modular Asian Macro Fund and related entities. Modular was spun out of Millennium Capital Management in January 2020, becoming one of Asia’s largest hedge fund launches in recent years. It was founded by Jimmy Lim, who ran similar specialist Asian mandates at Millennium, BlueCrest and JP Morgan.
Boaz, Tali Weinstein Gift Fuels Fight Against Domestic Violence (Bloomberg)
As Boaz Weinstein watched markets roiled by the coronavirus pandemic, Tali Farhadian Weinstein was hearing about the human toll on survivors of domestic violence. With help from the Ford Foundation’s Darren Walker and others, they connected with providers of hotlines, shelter and counseling in New York City, who told them of men answering their partners’ phones or cutting off cell service. One woman chose to endure sexual assault instead of fleeing, afraid of exposing her children to Covid-19.
Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Bets on Ray Dalio, Howard Marks, and Dan Loeb After Losing 24% This Year (Business Insider)
Anthony Scaramucci is betting on Ray Dalio, Howard Marks, and Dan Loeb to revitalize his SkyBridge investment firm’s fortunes after it suffered heavy losses during the coronavirus sell-off. Scaramucci said in a client letter on Monday that SkyBridge has plowed a total of $290 million into the hedge-fund managers’ respective funds: Bridgewater Associates, Oaktree Capital, and Third Point. SkyBridge, which managed about $5.9 billion in client assets at the end of January, handed $100 million to both Bridgewater and Oaktree, and added $90 million to an existing wager on Third Point.
Hedge Fund Managers up 3.73% in April, Reduce YTD Losses to 4.64% (Opalesque.com)
Hedge funds recouped some of the losses they suffered amidst pandemic-induced market chaos, said Eurekahedge. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 3.73% in April – recording its strongest monthly performance in recent years, supported by the strong performance of the underlying global equity market as represented by the MSCI ACWI IMI (Local), which gained 10.47% over the month. Hedge fund managers reduced their year-to-date losses to 4.64%, the report said. Market optimism over the potential easing of lockdown measures following the slowdown of COVID-19 spread in the US and Europe acted as a tailwind for the performance of risk assets during the month. The MSCI ACWI IMI (Local) rallied 10.47% in April, but still down 13.21% as of April 2020 year-to-date.
Tuesday 5/12 Insider Buying Report: RCII, STFC (Nasdaq.com)
On Friday, Rent-A-Center’s Director, Jeffrey J. Brown, made a $460,118 purchase of RCII, buying 20,000 shares at a cost of $23.01 each. Brown was up about 6.2% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with RCII trading as high as $24.44 in trading on Tuesday. Rent-A-Center is trading down about 0.5% on the day Tuesday. And at State Auto Financial, there was insider buying on Thursday, by Senior Vice President Kim Burton Garland who bought 14,786 shares for a cost of $21.26 each, for a total investment of $314,350. State Auto Financial is trading off about 2.6% on the day Tuesday. Bargain hunters are able to bag STFC even cheaper than Garland did, with shares trading as low as $19.61 at last check today — that’s 7.7% below Garland’s purchase price.
A Director at Evans Bancorp (NYSE MKT: EVBN) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, a Director at Evans Bancorp (EVBN), Thomas Waring, bought shares of EVBN for $5,098. This recent transaction increases Thomas Waring’s holding in the company by 1.38% to a total of $358.7K. The company has a one-year high of $41.75 and a one-year low of $20.50. EVBN’s market cap is $131 million and the company has a P/E ratio of 9.40. Currently, Evans Bancorp has an average volume of 25.85K.
Peloton Interactive Inc (PTON) CFO Jill Woodworth Sold $5.5 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CFO of Peloton Interactive Inc., Jill Woodworth, sold 130,000 shares of PTON on 05/08/2020 at an average price of $42.46 a share. The total sale was $5.5 million. Peloton Interactive Inc has a market cap of $13 billion; its shares were traded at around $45.90 with and P/S ratio of 4.47. GuruFocus has detected 1 severe warning sign with Peloton Interactive Inc.
