Hedge Fund Titan John Paulson’s Unlikely Bougainvillean Bet (AFR.com)
A private vehicle of ex-US hedge fund magnate John Paulson is an investor in Wyndale Holdings, whose Bougainvillean subsidiary is run by bankrupt Perth mining identity Nikolajs Zuks. We’ve previously detailed how Wyndale has secured an alluvial mining licence in the region, and is applying for two others. And while we noted that Wyndale had conducted several capital raises of late, their source is heftier than we had any reason to suspect.
Panthers Owner Tepper Hires Law Head After Bias, HQ Allegations (Bloomberg Law)
The Carolina Panthers have a permanent general counsel for the first time since 2020 as the team wrestles with allegations of racial bias in hiring and an investigation into a scuttled $800 million headquarters plan. Tanya Taylor, who was the first Black woman to hold the general counsel job at Radisson Hotel Group Americas, announced her new top legal role with the Panthers on LinkedIn after team owner David Tepper said her hire and several others show he’s trying to break up the NFL’s “old boys’ network.”
Bath & Body Works Adds Director, Third Point Backs Off Proxy Fight (Reuters)
Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) on Monday named veteran financial executive and board member Thomas Kuhn as a new director, ending a potential challenge from billionaire investor Daniel Loeb‘s hedge fund Third Point. Kuhn, a lawyer and former banker who is currently a managing member of advisory and investment firm Doorbrook LLC, joins the board at the end of the week as its third newcomer and was recommended by Third Point, the company said in a statement.
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AQR Leads 10 Hedge Funds Suing LME Over Nickel Trade Debacle (Bloomberg)
AQR Capital Management formally filed a London lawsuit against the London Metal Exchange, joining nine other hedge funds in a series of claims targeting the exchange’s decision to cancel billions of dollars in nickel trades last year. AQR and DRW Commodities previously sought key documents from the exchange in court and alongside Flow Traders BV, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC and Winton Capital Management Ltd. are seeking around £80 million ($96.3 million), according to the LME.
Opalesque Roundup: 2023 could be a Strong Year for Hedge Funds, Says Abrdn: Hedge Fund News, Week 08 (Opalesque)
Opalesque Roundup: 2023 could be a strong year for hedge funds, says abrdn : hedge fund news, week 08. In the week ending March 03rd 2023, global asset manager abrdn said that 2023 could be a strong year for hedge funds. The firm has released its first quarter hedge fund outlook and in it, suggests that discretionary macro strategies, merger arbitrage strategies, and relative value strategies could be well positioned for the current market environment. The outlook says that discretionary macro strategies in particular could do well given the variety of themes in the market right now including persistent inflation and rising rates.
ExodusPoint is on the Comeback Trail After a Rocky 2022 (Business Insider)
On tap, we’ve got stories on how Fidelity is valuing its investments in top tech startups, where the uber rich invest their money, and the stocks to bet on if you’re buying the AI hype. But first, who’s in first? 1. How’d we do? It’s the beginning of the month, which means a chance to see how the top hedge funds are performing. Insider’s Alex Morrell has February performance figures for some of the top funds in the industry, including Citadel, Point72, and Millennium. But the top dog among large multi-strategy hedge funds was ExodusPoint. In fact, the fund did so well it now has the best year-to-date performance among the group, closely followed by Citadel.
NatWest’s Ex-Head of Euro Swaps Trading Joins Brevan Howard (Hedge Week)
Brevan Howard has appointed Owen Coughlan, the former head of euro swaps trading at NatWest Markets, as a portfolio manager based in London, according to a report by eFinancial Careers. The report cites Coughlan’s LinkedIn profile as revealing that he has made the switch to Brevan Howard from multi-strategy hedge fund firm Eisler Capital, where he spent just over a year following his departure from NatWest Markets in February 2022.
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates Raises New Fund Strategy Less Dependent on Equities (Business Today)
Bridgewater Associates has raised at least $800 million in recent months for a new fund strategy, regulatory filings show, an additional offering that comes as the hedge fund manager revamps the business after founder Ray Dalio gave up control. Connecticut-based Bridgewater, which manages $145 billion, launched the “Defensive Alpha” strategy in July last year, regulatory filings showed. A source close to Bridgewater said the strategy, which has not been reported previously, is designed to help weather equity bear markets and generate returns negatively correlated to equities, which means the fund’s profits will increase if stocks fall.
Hedge Fund Point72 has Hired a Former Robinhood Employee (Cryptonomist.ch)
Hedge fund Point72 has announced the hiring of Lionel Sukhram, now a former employee of the Robinhood platform. Sukhram has been hired as a senior digital assets professional as part of the firm’s efforts to expand its crypto team. Sukhram brings with him extensive experience in both banking and crypto, having worked at both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs before joining Robinhood as a senior cryptocurrency operations specialist.
Hedge Fund Millennium Began the Year with a Singapore Hiring Push (eFinancialCareers)
When multi-strategy hedge fund Millennium Management moved into a new and larger Singapore office in October last year, it was expected to add staff. Five months later, some of those new hires have already arrived. Of the 10+ new portfolio managers who’ve joined Millennium since the start of 2023, at least four are in Singapore. Kenneth Maples joined Millennium’s Singapore office after nearly eight years at Virtu Financial, where he was latterly the head of trading for APAC. Maples had been sitting out of the market on a non-compete for the past 11 months.
Monday 3/6 Insider Buying Report: DPZ, PEAK (Nasdaq.com)
At Dominos Pizza, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Thursday, Chief Executive Officer Russell J. Weiner purchased 3,333 shares of DPZ, for a cost of $303.58 each, for a total investment of $1.01M. So far Weiner is in the green, up about 4.2% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $316.23. Dominos Pizza is trading up about 3.6% on the day Monday. This buy marks the first one filed by Weiner in the past twelve months. And also on Thursday, CEO Scott M. Brinker purchased $385,169 worth of Healthpeak Properties, purchasing 16,300 shares at a cost of $23.63 each. Healthpeak Properties is trading up about 0.2% on the day Monday. So far Brinker is in the green, up about 3.1% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $24.36.
$7M Bet On This Financial Services Stock? Check Out These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Goosehead Insurance: The Trade: Goosehead Insurance, Inc (GSHD) Director Thomas McConnon acquired a total of 153,537 shares an average price of $45.39. To acquire these shares, it cost around $6.97 million. Keurig Dr Pepper: The Trade: Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (KDP) CFO Shekhar Sudhanshu Priyadarshi acquired a total of 20,000 shares at an average price of $35.59. To acquire these shares, it cost around $711.8 thousand.
