Bill Ackman’s Greatest Trade (Data Driven Investor)
How a hedge fund manager turn 27 million into 2.6 billion dollars within 30 days. From 2015 to 2018, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman had negative returns while the S&P 500 returns were positive. The investors started withdrawing their investment from his hedge fund because of his lousy performance. During these three years, his fund’s assets under management went from 16 billion to just 6 billion in late 2018.
Third Point Re-Invests in Disney, Pushes for Changes Including ESPN Spinoff (Reuters)
Hedge fund Third Point on Monday unveiled a new position in Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and made a string of suggestions, ranging from spinning off cable sports channel ESPN to share buybacks to new board members, to improve the company’s fortunes. Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb, who runs Third Point, made a U-turn on Disney by buying a stake in the second quarter not long after he liquidated the firm’s position in Disney during the first quarter.
Jim Simons’ RenTech Fund halved Its Tesla Stake Last Quarter – and Dumped Meme Stocks GameStop and AMC (Business Insider)
Renaissance Technologies halved its Tesla stake, dumped GameStop and AMC Entertainment, and bet big on Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway in the second quarter, a new SEC filing reveals. RenTech, which ranks among the largest and most successful hedge funds in history, was founded by Jim Simons, a former NSA codebreaker and MIT math professor. The quantitative fund employs algorithms to decide many of its trades, resulting in sweeping changes to its stock portfolio each quarter.
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Crypto Venture Company Dragonfly Buys Hedge Fund, Rebrands (Bloomberg)
Digital-asset venture capital firm Dragonfly said it acquired MetaStable Capital, one of the oldest investment funds in cryptocurrencies, and completed a rebranding. The acquisition comes as the digital-asset industry consolidates, said Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Dragonfly added the firm has dropped “Capital” in its name under a new logo.
Soleus Is Launching a New PE Fund (Institutional Investor)
The little-known healthcare firm has been one of the sector’s top performers. A low-profile but very successful healthcare hedge fund is raising money for a new private equity fund. The firm, Soleus Capital Management, has also told investors that it anticipates closing its hedge fund to new investors within the next few months.
Top Fundraising Challenges for Infrastructure Fund Managers and How to Overcome Them (Preqin)
As global energy markets grapple with high oil prices and Europe tries to break its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons, the private infrastructure asset class is experiencing a fundraising boom. However, it’s not all bright and easy for managers in this space. Below, we look at the challenges GPs face when raising capital for infrastructure funds and provide key solutions to overcome them.
Citadel’s Ken Griffin Advice to Interns: Hustle During Your 20s and be Aggressive When Asking for a Promotion (Business Insider)
In a conference room overlooking Lexington Avenue in Manhattan on Thursday morning, a conference room filled with 150 rising college seniors decked out in swag like polos and fleece vests embossed with the Citadel logo were anxiously waiting for the star speaker, Ken Griffin, founder and chief executive of the firm, to arrive. It was close to 10 in the morning. The interns were asked to arrive early, so they wouldn’t miss out on the billionaire’s fireside chat on his career path and advice.
Monday 8/15 Insider Buying Report: RNR, UNVR (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, RenaissanceRe Holdings’s Director, Brian Gerald John Gray, made a $979,650 buy of RNR, purchasing 7,500 shares at a cost of $130.62 a piece. Gray was up about 5.3% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with RNR trading as high as $137.59 at last check today. RenaissanceRe Holdings is trading off about 0.3% on the day Monday. And at Univar Solutions, there was insider buying on Wednesday, by EVP, CFO Nicholas W. Alexos who purchased 25,000 shares for a cost of $26.19 each, for a total investment of $654,665. This buy marks the first one filed by Alexos in the past year. Univar Solutions is trading off about 1% on the day Monday. So far Alexos is in the green, up about 1.8% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $26.65.
Goldman, Morgan Stanley Seek to End Investors’ Archegos-Linked Lawsuits (Reuters)
NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) urged a U.S. federal judge to dismiss seven lawsuits by investors who accused the Wall Street banks of insider trading before the March 2021 collapse of the $36 billion Archegos Capital Management LP. The proposed class actions said Goldman and Morgan Stanley violated securities laws – and avoided billions of dollars of their own losses – by selling to “unsuspecting and unwitting investors” the stocks of companies they knew Archegos would be selling after failing to meet margin calls.
Insider Trading: August 15, 2022 (BIV.com)
Insider Charles Edgar Fipke, director. Company: Cantex Mine Development Corp. (TSX-V:CD). Shares owned: 20,828,288. Trade date: July 28. Trade total: $72,200. Trade: Acquisition of 190,000 shares at a price of $0.38 per share. Insider Stefan Gleason, 10% owner. Company: Electric Royalties Ltd. (TSX-V:ELEC). Shares owned: 6,571,799. Trade date: July 28, 29, August 1, 2. Trade total: US$58,750. Trade: Acquisition of 58,750 shares at a price of US$0.21 to US$0.23 per share.
Hedge Fund Lawsuit Financing Poised for SEC Enforcement Scrutiny (Bloomberg)
The SEC’s enforcement lawyers and examiners are moving closer to gathering data on investments hedge funds make in support of litigation, as the financing arrangements grow in popularity. The US Securities and Exchange Commission Aug. 10 proposed requiring private funds to report confidentially to the agency about their spending on litigation finance . The funding, which litigants and law firms use to cover their costs, has reached billions of dollars.
