Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Bill Ackman, AQR Capital Management, Chegg Inc (CHGG), Entercom Communications Corp. (ETM), Klondex Mines Ltd (KLDX), and More

Ackman Is Abandoned by Big Pershing Square Investors (Bloomberg)
Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management is facing more bad news as many of the institutional investors in its private funds have asked to redeem their money. About two-thirds of the capital that investors could withdraw from Pershing Square private funds was redeemed at the end of last year, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Blackstone Group LP has been pulling its money, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. has removed Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square from its list of recommended funds for clients, the person said.

AQR Launches Core Plus Fixed Income Mutual Fund (BusinessWire.com)
GREENWICH, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AQR Capital Management, LLC (“AQR”) today announced the launch of its Core Plus Bond Fund (Class I Shares: QCPIX; “The Fund”), a systematic fixed income fund designed to provide investors with a differentiated approach to fixed income investing. The Fund systematically implements fundamental drivers of returns such as value, momentum, carry and defensive themes. It seeks to consistently outperform its benchmark, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index, and generate excess returns that are uncorrelated to fixed income markets, other fixed income managers as well as equity markets.

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

Exclusive: Starboard Challenges U.S. Mall Owner Macerich’s Board – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP nominated directors this week to challenge the board of directors of U.S. shopping mall owner Macerich Co (MAC.N), people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Macerich is the latest mall operator to come under pressure from activist investors during a downturn in the brick-and-mortar retail sector. Taubman Centers Inc (TCO.N), another shopping center operator, has attracted activist hedge funds, including Elliott Management Corp.

Woman-led Activist Hedge Fund Scores Victory at AstroNova (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Ides Capital, one of only two U.S. activist hedge funds run by a woman, was partly behind the appointment of a female independent director this week at U.S. industrial technology company AstroNova Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. AstroNova did not disclose the role of Ides when it announced on Tuesday that it would add Stallergenes Greer Plc board director Yvonne Schlaeppi to its own board, while two of its oldest directors by age, Graeme MacLetchie and Everett Pizzuti, will retire from the board. Four of the company’s six directors will now be independent.