Brevan Howard Cuts Office Perks in London Headquarters (Bloomberg)
Brevan Howard Asset Management, the hedge fund manager run by billionaire Alan Howard, has shrunk the size of its London headquarters, cutting back on space previously used as a gym, kitchen, meeting area and private reception, two people with knowledge of the downsizing said. Slowing asset growth and lackluster returns in recent years have forced money managers worldwide to pare back costs. Brevan Howard didn’t renew its lease for the ground floor of the office, a move that cut the size of its rental space by more than one-fifth, the people said, asking not to be identified because the move hasn’t been publicly disclosed.
Hedge Fund EJF to Limit UK Investment Amid No-deal Brexit Fears (FNLondon.com)
EJF Capital, the $9.9bn hedge fund run by prominent financier Emanuel ‘Manny’ Friedman, is limiting its investment in the UK amid fears that a crash-out Brexit could send markets plunging by 40%. Hammad Khan, EJF’s senior managing director in Europe, said he was prepared to wait years for the full detail of an exit deal with the European Union to become clear before changing his position. He said: “I would just need more details on what actually they’re trying to achieve and how they going to achieve that [within] the timeline, rather than big picture.”
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Hedge Fund Billionaire Einhorn Places Sixth in Major Poker Tournament (ParkerCityNews.com)
Hedge fund billionaire busted out of a $1 million buy-in poker tournament just short of taking home prize money, in Las Vegas. Einhorn and 26 other businessmen and poker players each ponied up $1 million to enter the World Series of Poker‘s “Big One for One Drop” tournament. Einhorn survived two days of play and came into the third day with the fifth most chips of the 6 remaining players. But, while other players were doing all they could to avoid getting eliminated, Einhorn didn’t seem to mind playing aggressively. For his sixth-place finish Einhorn receives no prize money. Fifth place would have paid out $2 million. Einhorn has been a regular at the World Series of Poker for years, always giving his winnings away to charity.
A Hedge Fund’s Lesson for the World’s Biggest Sovereign Wealth Fund (Bloomberg)
“Banks are watching all their profitable activities – foreign exchange, consumer finance, small company lending – being taken away by fintech companies and peer to peer lenders,” hedge fund manager Crispin Odey recently told his investors. “They are starting to look like the department stores – victims of the internet.” The second-quarter returns posed by the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund appear to confirm his thesis. Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund posted returns of 1.8 percent in the second quarter. Its holdings in financial shares were the weakest element, with the fund saying that “banks in particular” hurt its performance.
Billionaire Ken Griffin Takes a Massive Bet on Micron (MU) Stock; Slams Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) (SmarterAnalyst.com)
Billionaire Ken Griffin, otherwise known as Illinois’ richest man, has made some drastic changes to his chip stock holdings in the second-quarter. Griffin manages the massive $30 billion Citadel fund, based in Chicago. And now just-released 13F forms reveal that Griffin has significantly increased the fund’s Micron (NASDAQ:MU) holding, while exiting Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) entirely. This is big news given that Griffin’s trades tend to be on the money. Indeed, Citadel is currently outperforming both the broader markets and the industry so far this year. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Citadel’s multi-strategy Wellington fund was up 8.79% during the first half of the year.
