Billionaire Och Sues Former Firm Sculptor Over Escalating CEO Pay (Reuters)
The billionaire Daniel Och on Wednesday sued Sculptor Capital Management Inc, accusing the asset manager he helped found of letting its chief executive officer wield his power over its board to extract “ever-escalating” pay despite subpar performance. In a complaint filed in Delaware Chancery Court, Och said James Levin was paid $145.8 million in 2021, more than most other CEOs including Apple’s (AAPL.O) Tim Cook, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon and JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM.N) Jamie Dimon.
Minerva Neurosciences Shares Leap 72% After Point72 Stake Disclosed (Morning Star)
Shares of Minerva Neurosciences Inc. soared nearly 73% to $7.81 per share on Wednesday. After the bell Tuesday, billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management L.P. disclosed that it has an 8.8% stake in the company. On Monday, the Minerva’s stock closed with a 47.83% gain after it submitted a new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for roluperidone as a treatment for patients with schizophrenia.
Five-Year-Old Nordic Cross Fund to Merge (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic Cross Total Return Bond Fund, one of the funds managed by Swedish hedge fund boutique Nordic Cross, will merge into Carnegie Fonder’s Carnegie Corporate Bond fund. The decision to merge and close Nordic Cross Total Return Bond Fund “leads to streamlining of operational processes of all funds managed by the same investment manager (i.e. Carnegie Fonder AB),” according to a notice to investors.
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com
Warren Buffett Notches a $4 Billion Gain on Occidental Petroleum in Under 6 Months – as the Energy Stock Nears a 4-Year High (Business Insider)
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway has racked up a $4 billion gain on Occidental Petroleum in under six months, thanks to the energy stock surging to nearly a four-year high. The famed investor’s conglomerate poured about $10 billion into the oil-and-gas explorer and producer between February 28 and August 8, a Markets Insider analysis of company filings shows. It amassed 188 million shares, or just over 20% of Occidental, at prices ranging from $41 to $60.
Robertson’s Contribution to Hedge Funds: Research Intensity (AI-CIO)
The death of Julian Robertson this week marks the passage of one of the pioneers of the hedge fund industry, which now has just under $4 trillion in assets. Robertson, who exuded old-style Southern gentility and a fiery competitive spirit, was notable for his emphasis on deep research, a quality that now embodies hedge operations far and wide. Robertson “was like a sponge, constantly soaking up as much information as he could,” wrote Daniel Strachman in his biography of the man, “Julian Robertson: A Tiger in the Land of Bulls and Bears.” During the 20-year run of Robertson’s Tiger Management, which ended in 2000 with his decision to just manage his own money, the hedge operation averaged a 25% return annually.
Portfolio Allocation in Alternatives: Hedge Funds (Preqin)
Portfolio managers have so many complex decisions to make to balance their funds to reduce risk and enhance returns. Since the Global Financial Crisis, investors have sought assets that produce high-risk adjusted returns, prompting them to consider new allocations to diversify portfolios. To help you visualize the different scenarios and decide which asset classes to include in your portfolio, we have created the Preqin Portfolio Allocation in Alternatives series. Part seven on hedge funds expertly analyzes real-world data, modeling the impact of adding unlisted natural resources assets to the mix on a portfolio’s risk and return profile. We share our methodology, revealing how to balance public assets with natural resources to generate better long-term results. You’ll also find a helpful crash course in portfolio allocation to accompany the report.
ICapital to Buy UBS Alt Feeder Fund Platform: Tech Roundup (ThinkAdvisor)
UBS and iCapital entered into a definitive agreement under which iCapital will acquire UBS Fund Advisor, the wirehouse’s legacy proprietary U.S. alternative investment manager and the feeder fund platform it manages. The platform, widely referred to as AlphaKeys Funds, represents over $7 billion in client assets, the companies said Tuesday in a joint announcement. Terms of the transaction, expected to close in the second half of 2022, were not disclosed.
Hedge Funds Ramp Up Bets Against Italian Government Bonds (Hedge Week)
Concerns over political instability in Italy have prompted hedge funds to ramp up their bets against the country’s government bonds to the highest monthly level seen since the global financial crisis, according to a report by the Financial Times. The report cites data from S&P Global Market Intelligence as revealing that investors have borrowed bonds worth more than €39 billion this month as they bet on a fall in prices due to the ongoing political uncertainty and economic turmoil caused by the surge in European natural gas prices following Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Goldman Sachs Analysis Shows Rebounding Hedge Fund Performance (The Wall Street Journal)
The latest hedge fund monitor from Goldman Sachs, which tracks 795 hedge funds with over $2.4 trillion in long and short equity positions, showed improving performance since July, an increasing focus on growth stocks, and more concentration in top positions. Below are key findings from the recent report: Performance: U.S. equity hedge funds were down 12% on average in the first half of the year, but have returned 4% since. That puts the average year-to-date loss at 9%. Goldman Sachs’ Hedge Fund VIP Basket, which measures the performance of funds’ most popular bullish positions, is down 22% on the year.
Thursday 8/25 Insider Buying Report: NKLA, TREE (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, Nikola Corp (NKLA)’s, Trevor R. Milton, made a $17.4M buy of NKLA, purchasing 3,000,000 shares at a cost of $5.80 each. Milton was up about 9.5% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with NKLA trading as high as $6.35 in trading on Thursday. Nikola Corp is trading up about 3.9% on the day Thursday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Milton in the past year. And at LendingTree (TREE), there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Director Mark A. Ernst who bought 10,000 shares at a cost of $34.68 each, for a trade totaling $346,789. Before this latest buy, Ernst made one other buy in the past year, purchasing $656,700 shares for a cost of $65.67 a piece. LendingTree is trading up about 10.5% on the day Thursday.
$17.5 Million Bet On Nerdy? Check Out These 3 Penny Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Nerdy: The Trade: Nerdy, Inc. (NRDY) CEO Charles Cohn bought a total of 5,000,000 shares at an average price of $3.50. To acquire these shares, it cost around $17.5 million. Nextdoor Holdings: The Trade: Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (KIND) GREYLOCK 16 PRINCIPALS LP acquired a total of 765,000 shares at an average price of $3.31. The insider spent around $2.53 million to buy those shares.
