Citadel’s Ex-Quant Star Resurfaced at a Crypto Hedge Fund (eFinancialCareers)
Jeffrey Ryan, one of the founding employees of Citadel‘s quantitative finance team, is making a comeback. In crypto. Ryan has joined Bastion Asset Management, a London-based crypto hedge fund that’s due to launch later this year. He will be head of research. Bastion’s co-founders are Xander Savenberg and Philip Scott. Savenberg was a fellow former quant at Citadel. Scott was a former COO at Rokos Capital Management and global COO of debt sales at Deutsche Bank. Ryan is Bastion’s fourth employee alongside Scott, Savenberg and Alex Loreau, a former risk manager at Eisler Capital.
Hedge Fund Billionaire Leon Cooperman Slams Cannabis Company Green Thumb Industries Over Alleged Insider Selling in a Testy Exchange (Business Insider)
All is not well in the cannabis investor world. During Green Thumb Industries’ Wednesday evening investor call, hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman ripped into the Chicago-based cannabis giant’s CEO Ben Kovler over what Cooperman said was rampant insider selling by the company’s executives. “Are you fully invested in the company?” Cooperman asked Kovler in a heated exchange. “You have all the right buzz words, but I don’t see the action. I see insider selling. I don’t see insider buying.”
Pictet Names Buckley, Klein to Alternative Investment Roles (Reuters)
ZURICH, May 6 (Reuters) – Swiss wealth and asset manager Pictet has named Edmund Buckley head of the Direct Private Equity division as the Geneva-based group expands its alternative investment business, it said on Friday. Buckley, who was previously a manager at private equity firm THI Investments, is expected to boost the business of direct investments in companies.
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A Fundamental Formula: Focus on Valuation (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – The sharp hawkish shifts adopted by the ECB, Federal Reserve and other central banks, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, formed the dominant market narrative in the first quarter of 2022. The resulting cocktail of consequences in the form of rising interest rates, inflation spiraling out of control as commodity prices rise and geopolitical uncertainty have put richly-valued high-growth stocks under pressure, underscoring the mantra of “no stock is worth buying at any price” and the importance of focusing on valuation.
Meet the Little Known Vanguard Fund that’s Crushing It—Even in this Market (MarketWatch)
It is also outperforming its expensive, exclusive hedge fund competitors. What would Jack Bogle think? The legendary Vanguard founder, who died three years ago, age 89, famously advised investors to avoid anything fancy in their retirement portfolios, 401(k) plans and IRAs. Bogle’s usual advice to the ordinary investor was to stick to a low-cost U.S. stock market index fund for long-term growth, like this one VTSAX. But here, little known and rarely talked about, is Vanguard running what looks suspiciously like a hedge fund.
This Hedge Fund Says That By Constantly Innovating, It Is Reaping The Rewards (Benzinga)
Reportedly, the majority of hedge funds invest primarily in a mix of traditional equities and bonds. This kind of portfolio often garners respectable returns, but there is theoretically more opportunities for alpha in other sectors as well. This is arguably laid bare by the recent downturn in the market, especially tech stocks. Funds that try to maximize growth often concentrate on specific markets. For example, after a meteoric rise to fame, ARK Investment Management LLC has performed relatively poorly in recent days. CEO Cathie Wood bet heavily on companies like Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM) and Roku Inc. (ROKU), down roughly 25%, 45% and 55%, respectively, this year.
Friday 5/6 Insider Buying Report: ALGN, NYMX (Nasdaq.com)
At Align Technology, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, CEO Joseph M. Hogan purchased 6,700 shares of ALGN, at a cost of $298.48 each, for a total investment of $2M. Investors have the opportunity to grab ALGN at a price even lower than Hogan did, with the stock changing hands as low as $271.53 in trading on Friday — that’s 9.0% under Hogan’s purchase price. Align Technology is trading down about 2.1% on the day Friday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Hogan in the past year. And on Monday, James George Robinson bought $1.9M worth of Nymox Pharmaceutical, buying 1,151,515 shares at a cost of $1.65 each. This purchase marks the first one filed by Robinson in the past twelve months. Nymox Pharmaceutical is trading off about 0.7% on the day Friday. Investors have the opportunity to snag NYMX at a price even lower than Robinson did, with shares changing hands as low as $1.31 in trading on Friday which is 20.6% under Robinson’s purchase price.
Ken Griffin Gives $25 Million to Illinois GOP Governor Candidate (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has upped his ante in Illinois’s gubernatorial election this year, contributing another $25 million to Republican candidate Richard Irvin, the mayor of the state’s second-largest city. Irvin is trying to unseat Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat seeking a second term in the November election. Griffin, the founder of Citadel and the richest man in Illinois, in February pledged $20 million to Irvin, the mayor of Aurora, after saying in November that he’s “all in” to back an opponent to beat Pritzker.
Hedge Funds & ESG: Navigating Internal Change and Responsible Investing (Hedge Week)
With responsible investing trends accelerating and global regulators pushing towards standardised frameworks, ESG is now a key theme within the alternative assets industry. Hedge funds from across the strategy spectrum are increasingly building sustainability themes into their portfolio-building processes, as investors push managers on their diversity and inclusion policies. But with new challenges constantly emerging, how can managers successfully stay on top of the rapidly-evolving ESG agenda?
SEC Charges New Jersey-Based Securities Fraud Recidivist with Defrauding Investors (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged New Jersey resident and unregistered investment adviser, Mark Marchi, with defrauding investors in his fund Precipio Capital, LLC. According to the SEC’s complaint, between February 2016 and September 2020, Marchi solicited over $2.8 million of investments in Precipio from at least 22 investors by falsely telling them he was profitably trading securities in Precipio’s accounts. In order to conceal his fraud, Marchi allegedly falsified investment documentation, including entering thousands of fake trades into an electronic portal accessed by investors.
United States: SEC Risk Alert Highlights Renewed Focus On Insider Trading And MNPI Policies And Procedures For Fund Managers (Mondaq.com)
Last month, we predicted that a renewed focus by the SEC on insider trading, MNPI and related internal controls would be one of the Top Ten Regulatory and Litigation Risks for Private Funds in 2022. Last week, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (“EXAMS”) issued a timely risk alert relating to Investment Adviser Material Non-Public Information (MNPI) Compliance Issues. The SEC’s EXAMS risk alert specifically highlighted a handful of common deficiencies noted under Section 204A of the Advisers Act and Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act (the “Code of Ethics Rule”).
