Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: David Tepper, Mike Novogratz, Ray Dalio, Tybourne Capital, Norron Asset Management, Lithium Americas Corp (LAC), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD), and More

Novogratz Plows Ahead In DeFi Amid the ‘Gamifying’ of Crypto (Bloomberg)
Scams and get-rich-fast schemes in decentralized finance, or DeFi, are giving the crypto industry a black eye, according to Mike Novogratz, chief executive officer of Galaxy Investment Partners LLC. “The same way a lot of the ICOs gave crypto a bad name, there are plenty of these coins that became Ponzi-like,” Novogratz said in an interview. “It’s kind of gamifying money. There are still lessons we are going to get out of that, but it’s not great for the ecosystem.”

Ray Dalio to speak at the Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020 (Business Insider)
Business Insider is proud to announce that Ray Dalio will speak at the inaugural BI Global Trends Festival, a virtual event taking place October 19-23, 2020. Dalio is a billionaire investor and founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, and the author of the bestselling book “Principles: Life and Work”. Bridgewater is known for its unique company culture. A core tenent is “radical transparency,” or understanding what your coworkers and boss think of you in real time.

Billionaire David Tepper Returns to New Jersey, Faces $120 Million Tax Bill (CNBC)
Billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper left New Jersey for Florida and it affected the state’s entire budget. Now he’s back in the Garden State. CNBC’s Robert Frank joins “Squawk Box” to explain what it could mean for the state’s budget.

Countries with the Smallest Government Per Capita in the World

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Temasek, Hedge Fund Tybourne May Invest in Bigbasket’s $400 Million Round Ahead of Planned IPO (TimesNowNews.com)
New Delhi: Online grocer Bigbasket, which is looking to mop up $350-400 million in a new round of funding, may see investors like Singapore state investor Temasek, hedge fund Tybourne Capital and former US vicepresident Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management participating in the round ahead of its planned initial public offer next year, the Times of India reported citing sources. The deal will include a primary infusion of $250-300 million for the business, and a secondary sale of shares by existing holders, the publication mentioned citing the sources.

Towards a Sustainable Future (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Norron Asset Management is expanding its range of hedge funds, fixed-income and equity funds with the launch of an equity fund that focuses on sustainability. Set to be launched on October 1, Norron Sustainable Equity will be managed by Norron’s investment team under the leadership of Joachim Sverre and Johan Svantesson. Joachim Sverre, who has extensive experience in portfolio management and equity analysis, will co-manage the fund with portfolio manager Johan Svantesson, who joined Norron in September of 2018 after working as an equity research analyst at Redeye.

Amazon Finance Manager and Family Allegedly made $1.4 Million With Insider Trading (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former finance manager at Amazon.com Inc. and two family members with insider trading in advance of Amazon earnings announcements between January 2016 and July 2018. According to the SEC’s complaint, Laksha Bohra worked as a senior manager in Amazon’s tax department, where she prepared and reviewed calculations used to finalize numbers included in Amazon’s quarterly and annual earnings that were filed with the SEC. Beginning in January 2016 and continuing through July 2018, Laksha Bohra allegedly acquired, and tipped her husband Viky Bohra with, highly confidential information about Amazon’s financial performance.

Man AHL Granted QFII License, Further Expanding Hedge Fund Quant Pioneer’s China Presence (Hedge Week)
Man AHL, the pioneering quantitative investment unit of London-listed global hedge fund giant Man Group, has been given the green light for a qualified foreign institutional investor license in China. The QFII license will give Man AHL’s investment strategies based outside of China greater access to the country’s domestic capital markets, complementing other existing access routes such as Stock Connect and China Interbank Bond Market access. The approval – which is the latest development in Man’s long-running focus on China – will provide clients and strategies with “valuable additional diversification and alpha-generation opportunities,” said Man AHL co-CEO Antoine Forterre.

The Vice-President Finance of Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the Vice-President Finance of Lithium Americas (LAC), Oleksandr Shulga, sold shares of LAC for $106.8K. Following Oleksandr Shulga’s last LAC Sell transaction on April 22, 2020, the stock climbed by 7.5%. In addition to Oleksandr Shulga, one other LAC executive reported Sell trades in the last month.

Tuesday 9/29 Insider Buying Report: PXD, NMFC (Nasdaq.com)
At Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Thursday, CFO Richard P. Dealy purchased 117,786 shares of PXD, for a cost of $119.85 each, for a total investment of $14.12M. Pioneer Natural Resources is trading up about 2.4% on the day Tuesday. And at New Mountain Finance ( NMFC ), there was insider buying on Friday, by Director Steven B. Klinsky who purchased 500,000 shares at a cost of $14.14 each, for a total investment of $7.07M. Before this latest buy, Klinsky made one other purchase in the past year, buying $2M shares at a cost of $14.82 a piece.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW) CVP, CFO Scott B. Ullem Sold $2.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CVP, CFO of Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Scott B. Ullem, sold 33,150 shares of EW on 09/28/2020 at an average price of $78.11 a share. The total sale was $2.6 million. Edwards Lifesciences Corp is a part of the healthcare sector. The company specializes in the treatment of structural heart disease. It manufactures heart valves and repair products used to replace or repair a patient’s diseased or defective heart valve.

Amazon Manager, Family Charged With Insider Trading Worth Over $1.4M By SEC (Benzinga)
An Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) senior manager and her two family members were charged with insider trading by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. What Happened: Laksha Bohra is alleged to have tipped her husband Viky Bohra about highly confidential information about the e-commerce giant’s financial performance between January 2016 and July 2018, the SEC said in a statement.

Activist Investor Acacia Buys Stake in UK-Listed Sensyne Health (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – New York-based Acacia Research Corporation said on Tuesday it had acquired an 11.8% stake in UK-listed artificial intelligence healthcare company Sensyne Health SENSS.L. Acacia which earlier this year started a partnership with activist investment firm Starboard Value, purchased the stake from the LF Equity Income fund.

Whistleblower Advocates Praise First 100 Whistleblowers Rewarded by SEC Programme (Hedge Week)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced its 100th whistleblower award since the creation of the SEC Whistleblower Program as part of the Dodd Frank Act in 2010. “The first 100 Dodd-Frank Act whistleblowers proved that whistleblowing works,” says leading whistleblower attorney Stephen M Kohn, partner at the qui tam law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto. “It is now up to Congress to ensure that similar programs are enacted into law, existing programs are enhanced, and ultimately that whistleblowers are fully protected from the corporate backlash that always comes.”