Activist Fund Barington Pushes for Change at Chico’s, Again (Reuters)
Activist investor Barington Capital Group on Monday urged Chico’s FAS (CHS.N) to explore strategic options for its brands and said the apparel chain’s board should add new members to help improve its lagging stock price. The New York-based hedge fund, which first pushed for changes at the clothing company five years ago, said it wants to see directors with experience in digital commerce, merchandising and marketing and women’s fashion specialty retail.
Two Sigma Hedge Fund Hot New Mover and Shaker in NYC (The Madison Leader Gazette)
Technology-driven hedge fund Two Sigma is in the market for a major space expansion and consolidation that could be worth a fortune to a number of Manhattan landlords. Although it’s rarely in the press, the international, privately held firm boasts $58 billion in assets under management. It’s currently headquartered in a mini-campus at 100 and 101 Sixth Ave. in Tribeca, according to its Web site.
Ex Millennium and LMR Partners Portfolio Manager Launches R Squared Global Fund (Hedge Week)
Gordian Capital has launched the R Squared Global fund, managed by William Warner and Justin Leow. The Fund invests in liquid derivative instruments, using quantitative models to arbitrage systematic and structural inefficiencies in the market with strategies not commonly implemented by hedge funds. The offering is scalable to USD1 billion given the highly liquid nature of the underlying portfolio. With its unique strategies, the Fund is expected to target a high Sharpe ratio, low volatility and low correlation to the broader equity markets and other funds, based on Warner’s prior trading experience.
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Bitcoin, Gold Are Likely to Withstand Fed Taper, SkyBridge Capital Says (Coin Desk)
Fiat-currency alternatives like bitcoin (BTC) and gold are likely to remain resilient even if the U.S. Federal Reserve curtails its liquidity-boosting quantitative easing (QE) program, according to SkyBridge Capital, a $7.5 billion hedge fund. “All fiat-currency alternatives – which have all gone through fairly recent substantial corrections – are in a much better place now to handle that eventual taper and gradual slowing of money-supply growth than they were as they were making higher-highs after higher-highs,” Troy Gayeski, co-chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager at SkyBridge Capital, told Bloomberg last week.
A $20 Billion Hedge Fund from New York is Signing a 10-Year Lease in Coconut Grove (Miami Herald)
Yet more financial firms are coming to Miami. The latest: D1 Capital Partners, a $20 billion hedge fund that has signed a 10-year lease for 25,000 square feet within Related Group’s newly completed 2850 Tigertail art-filled office building in Coconut Grove. D1’s arrival represents another out-of-state financial giant betting on Miami by putting an office there. It follows Blackstone, Thoma Bravo and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s Point72 among firms opting for a Miami presence.
CTAs Come to the Rescue (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – With Nordic equity and fixed-income hedge funds down in May, it was the turn of CTAs to push the Nordic Hedge Index higher. Nordic CTAs advanced 1.7 percent on average last month (92 percent reported), bringing the group’s 2021 performance further into positive territory at 3.8 percent. Ten of the 12 members of NHX CTA with reported May figures posted gains last month.
Crypto Hedge Fund Argentium Commits to Carbon Neutrality (Hedge Week)
Argentium Digital Asset Management, a London-based cryptocurrency hedge fund founded by ex-JP Morgan and Credit Suisse manager Paul Frost-Smith, has committed to a carbon-neutral investment approach. The fund’s blockchain activity will be independently assessed annually for carbon impact, with Argentium pledging to purchase carbon credits or offsets to neutralise that impact. In addition, Argentium will purchase credits or offsets to cover its own carbon footprint.
Monday 6/7 Insider Buying Report: BKI, FEYE (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, Black Knight’s Chief Executive Officer, Anthony M. Jabbour, made a $997,603 purchase of BKI, buying 13,900 shares at a cost of $71.77 a piece. So far Jabbour is in the green, up about 1.8% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $73.06. Black Knight Inc is trading off about 1.2% on the day Monday. And on Friday, COO John P. Watters purchased $468,628 worth of FireEye, purchasing 25,000 shares at a cost of $18.75 a piece. FireEye is trading up about 2.1% on the day Monday. So far Watters is in the green, up about 3.3% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $19.36.
BlueBay Strengthens Sales Team in Germany and Austria (Hedge Week)
Specialist fixed income manager, BlueBay Asset Management (BlueBay), is strengthening its sales team in Germany and Austria with the appointment of Michael Wolfram (37) as Head of Institutional Sales Germany & Austria. Based in Munich, Wolfram reports to Viola Patock, Head of Northern Europe. Speaking about Michael’s appointment, Patock says, “We are delighted to be strengthening our physical presence in Northern Europe with the addition of Michael. He brings a wealth of knowledge with him that will support our client-focused efforts.
Insider Trading: June 7, 2021 (BIV.com)
Insider George Leslie Brack, other. Company: Capstone Mining Corp. (TSX:CS). Shares owned: 817,700. Trade date: May 20. Trade total: $1,035,464. Trade: Sale of 182,300 shares at a price of $5.68 per share. Insider Richard James Hall, director. Company: Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX:OLA). Shares owned: 2,333,900. Trade date: May 20, 21. Trade total: $467,298. Trade: Sale of 84,600 shares at prices from $5.45 to $5.57 per share.
The Past Week’s Notable Insider Buys: Dun & Bradstreet, Norfolk Southern And More (Benzinga)
The sponsor and 10% owner of special purpose acquisition company ARYA Sciences Acquisition III Corp (ARYA) indirectly bought more than 330,000 of its shares last week. At prices ranging from $10.01 to $10.15 per share, that cost the owner more than $3.31 million. This latest transaction raised the owner’s stake to almost 490,000 shares. The purchase of almost 47,000 more PennyMac Financial Services Inc (PFSI) shares by a director (and frequent buyer) for an average of $62.67 per share totaled more than $2.94 million. Note that a beneficial owner sold almost 191,300 shares of this California-based mortgage company last week as well.
The Chairman of Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Chairman of Allscripts (MDRX), Michael A Klayko, sold shares of MDRX for $1.82M. Following Michael A Klayko’s last MDRX Sell transaction on June 14, 2018, the stock climbed by 5.6%. In addition to Michael A Klayko, 3 other MDRX executives reported Sell trades in the last month. The company has a one-year high of $18.16 and a one-year low of $5.77. Currently, Allscripts has an average volume of 984.11K. MDRX’s market cap is $2.55 billion and the company has a P/E ratio of 3.90.
Epam Systems Inc (EPAM) CEO, President, Chairman Arkadiy Dobkin Sold $19 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO, President, Chairman of Epam Systems Inc, Arkadiy Dobkin, sold 40,000 shares of EPAM on 06/01/2021 at an average price of $475.88 a share. The total sale was $19 million.
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