Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Elliott Management, Cerberus Capital Management, Red Violet Inc (RDVT), Broadcom Inc (AVGO), ICTS International N.V. (ICTSF), and More

Hedge Fund Elliott Steps up Pressure on Vivendi Over Telecom Italia (Reuters)
PARIS, LONDON (Reuters) – Activist investor Elliott Advisors lambasted Vivendi on Thursday after the French media group defended its strategy as the main shareholder of Telecom Italia (TIM). The activist fund has built up a 9 percent stake in TIM and is asking for changes at the board at a shareholders vote on April 24. Paul Elliott Singer’s hedge fund firm said TIM has experienced “profound and persistent share price underperformance” under Vivendi’s control. TIM shares have fallen more than 62 percent over the past ten years, from 1.359 euros ($1.68) in April 2008 to 0.8498 euros on Thursday.

Matt Zames Named President of Cerberus Capital Management (The Wall Street Journal)
Matt Zames, the former chief operating officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. who was once seen as a possible successor to Chief Executive James Dimon, has been appointed president of private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP. The appointment of Mr. Zames, 47, is part of a series of moves at the top of Cerberus that include the naming of firm veteran Frank Bruno as co-chief executive alongside co-founder Stephen Feinberg, people at the firm said Wednesday.

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Steve Cohen Gets Kick From Scaring The Hell Out Of Cash-Strapped Entrepreneurs (DealBreaker)
You’ve been honing your pitch. Practicing your answers to the likely questions in the mirror. Poring through your deck, making sure every little thing is perfect. You think you’ve got a billion-dollar idea. Maybe it’s a blockchain play. Or a way to trick poor young people into playing the stock market. Or a crowd-sourced algorithmic-trading venture. Or a way to have autonomous cars not kill people. You’ve spent hours rehearsing the details of your plan with some ominous-sounding folks. But now you’ve flown in from Silicon Valley or driven up to Stamford for a chance to convince the principals.

Hedge Funds Drop in March, First Consecutive Decline in 2 Years (Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) — Hedge fund returns sank for a second straight month in March, the first back-to-back loss since the first two months of 2016, as trade wars, tech-sector woes and a Fed rate hike dragged down the S&P 500 from its mid-month highs and hedge funds into the red for the year. Hedge Funds fell 0.56 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 1.42% gain for the three months ended Feb. 28, according to data compiled in the Bloomberg Hedge Fund Database. Funds also finished the month of March down 0.75 percent, paring losses from February when they fell 2.19 percent.