Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital Was Spiraling, and Then Came FTX (Bloomberg)
On Jan. 31, Anthony Scaramucci sat onstage at a hedge fund conference in Miami, answering questions about, among other things, his former business partner Sam Bankman-Fried. Seven weeks earlier, Bankman-Fried had been arrested for allegedly stealing billions of dollars from clients of FTX, the crypto brokerage he founded. A few months before that, he’d bought a 30% stake in Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital, which earns fees by investing in hedge funds and digital assets. Despite the recent drama, the Mooch, as he’s known, looked relaxed in a Brioni suit and Prada lug-soled loafers, his forehead Botoxed to a smoothness unnatural in a 59-year-old. “I’m not gonna let Sam or anybody, any bad outcome like that, dissuade me from further risk-taking or some big opportunities,” he said. Or, as he’d put it on a recent episode of the finance podcast Capital Allocators: “I’m like a f—ing cockroach. If you think I’m going down after the nuclear bomb goes off, you’ve mis-sized me. I’m a little tough son of a bitch, and so I will find a way hook or crook to make this work for the firm.”
Protean Strengthens Team Ahead of Long-Only Launch (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Up-and-coming fund boutique Protean Funds is strengthening its investment team with the hiring of Ramil Koria ahead of the planned launch of a long-only fund in the summer. Koria will join Protean’s investment team consisting of co-founding duo Pontus Dackmo and Carl Gustafsson on July 1. “We strengthen the investment team with a great guy and stock nerd Ramil Koria, who will join us on July 1st,” the team at Protean announces on LinkedIn. “Ramil will be part of the fund management team, and strengthen our analytical capacity ahead of the Protean Small Cap launch,” the team adds. “We are chuffed to have Ramil on board and he will be an important contributor as our new Protean Small Cap fund is launched shortly.”
Marshall Wace’s Compliance Boss Urges Female Hedge Fund Managers to ‘Seek Out Other Women’ (Financial News)
Marshall Wace’s chief compliance officer Courtney Lewis grew up in a family of psychotherapists. Surrounded by people navigating how society shapes behaviour, Lewis developed an interest in law. In her two-decade professional career, Lewis has seen improvements in the inclusion of women across the hedge fund industry. She also believes that female hedge fund managers can “honestly assess their skillset” by reaching out to other women in the industry.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
A Summer Internship at D.E. Shaw Can Pay Up to $20,000 a Month. Here’s What It Takes to Land a Coveted Spot. (Business Insider)
D.E. Shaw has a history of unconventional hires who do not necessarily have a background in finance. The hedge fund typically hires up to 90 interns a year, and many convert to full-time employees. Jeremy Reff, D.E. Shaw’s recruiting head, took us inside the firm’s process for finding talent. “I don’t know.” You might think that’s an answer you would best avoid in a job interview. At quant hedge fund giant D.E. Shaw, however, it could be interpreted as a sign of intellect.
Hedge Fund Wages Proxy Battle with Exelexis Over R&D (PharmaLive.com)
Farallon Capital Management is waging a proxy battle with Exelixis over R&D spending. The hedge fund issued a letter to the company’s board of directors on Wednesday. Farallon has a 7.2% stake in the genomics-based drug discovery company, making it the largest active shareholder, according to the letter. The biotech has three approved medicines on the market for kidney, liver and thyroid cancers and advanced melanoma. Despite generating over $2 billion a year in revenue from these, the hedge fund’s letter called the biotech a “disappointment for shareholders,” citing a shareholder return of less than 1% per year.
Assured Guaranty to Take 30% Stake in Hedge Fund Sound Point (Pensions&Investments)
Assured Guaranty, a financial guaranty insurer, is acquiring a 30% stake in $32 billion hedge fund Sound Point Capital Management in exchange for Assured’s equity interest in its approximately $15.2 billion money management arm Assured Investment Management, according to a Wednesday news release. The deal is expected to make Sound Point the world’s fifth largest collateralized loan obligation manager by assets under management, the release said.
Odey Shuts Commodities Fund Following Failed Russian Bets (Hedge Week)
An Odey Asset Management commodities-focused hedge fund run by portfolio manager Henry Steel, and personally backed by the firm’s founder Crispin Odey, has been shuttered following losses linked to large Russian positions last year, according to a report by Bloomberg. The report cites an unnamed source as revealing the the Odey Concentrated Natural Resources Fund, which Steel started in 2019 with money from Odey and some external investors, then failed to raise assets, prompting the decision to liquidate.
Tiger Global Posts 7.3% Q1 Gain After Losses in 2022 (LiveMint.com)
Tiger Global Management’s hedge fund gained 7.3% in the first quarter as a rally in technology shares helped the firm begin to dig out from last year’s record losses. The fund advanced 5.2% in March for its third straight positive month this year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Four of the firm’s biggest stock holdings at the end of December jumped at least 20% during the first three months, led by a 76% surge for Meta Platforms Inc. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 17%.
Thursday 4/6 Insider Buying Report: PL, DOMH (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, Planet Labs’ President, Product & Business, Kevin Weil, made a $997,113 purchase of PL, buying 274,000 shares at a cost of $3.64 a piece. So far Weil is in the green, up about 13.2% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $4.12. Planet Labs is trading up about 9.8% on the day Thursday. And also on Wednesday, COO Christopher Franklin Devall purchased $19,999 worth of Dominari Holdings, purchasing 5,698 shares at a cost of $3.51 each. This purchase marks the first one filed by Devall in the past twelve months. Dominari Holdings is trading up about 4% on the day Thursday.
Electronic Arts, Marriott International And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling (Benzinga)
Electronic Arts: The Trade: Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) Director, CEO and Board Chair Andrew Wilson sold a total of 10,000 shares at an average price of $120.00. The insider received around $1.2 million from selling those shares. Marriott International: The Trade: Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) EVP & Chief HR Officer Benjamin Breland sold a total of 1,225 shares at an average price of $164.27. The insider received around $201.23 thousand from selling those shares.
