HFs Running Value-Oriented and RV Strategies to Shine (HedgeNordic.com)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – J.P. Morgan Asset Management has released a report presenting outlooks for all major alternative asset classes, including hedge funds. The inaugural Global Alternatives Outlook 2019 aims to guide investment decision-making in a year characterized by transition and change, as markets are adjusting to monetary tightening, equity markets are becoming more volatile, and uncertainties over trade wars and tariffs are lingering.
We Got a Copy of Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Seth Klarman’s Letter to Investors — Here are His 5 Biggest Warnings (Business Insider)
Similar to his billionaire hedge fund counterpart Ray Dalio, Baupost Group CEO Seth Klarman is concerned about an incoming financial crisis as well as political and social tension in the US. In his annual letter to investors this week which was viewed by Business Insider, Klarman laid out his biggest concerns about the economy, democracy and society, as the one-time mega-donor to the GOP has been outspoken against President Donald Trump. For the year, the $32 billion hedge fund returned between “roughly breakeven and a decline of less than one percent,” the letter said.
Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock.com
Money Stuff: Losing Money Reduces the Risk of Too Much Money (Bloomberg)
Greenlight: I slave away all day writing sentences on the internet. David Einhorn, meanwhile, works full time (except for a midday nap and some poker vacations) at his job of managing a multibillion-dollar hedge fund, which may lack some of the spiritual rewards of writing sentences on the internet but which definitely pays better. So it is particularly painful for me to realize that I’ll never write a sentence as good as this throwaway line that David Einhorn put in an investor letter.
Marble Arch Shutdown Spawns Startups (Hedge Fund Alert)
At least four executives from the now-shuttered Marble Arch Investments are starting their own hedge funds. Marble Arch co-founder Timothy Jenkins is aiming for the second quarter to open a management shop whose staff also would include former partner Joseph Talia. Sources said the new operation’s strategy would deviate slightly from Marble Arch, which made value-oriented stock selections worldwide. Meanwhile, Michael Bilger, who had been a partner at Marble Arch, is forming a New York firm called 59 North Capital that will take a long/short equity approach. He has five employees so far, including at least three who spent time at Marble Arch.
Fund Managers and Allocators: Assessing Risk in an Aging Bull Market (Hedge Connection)
Introduction: Fund Managers and Asset Allocators are challenged with viewing risk from two, but not necessarily opposite, perspectives. Asset owners are tasked with keeping funding promises to beneficiaries over long-periods of time. Years of depressed interest rates have made achieving the allocators’ return targets much more difficult. Fund managers seek to deliver attractive risk/reward performance and compete to raise and retain assets. While both the fund managers and asset allocators have strong incentives to balance risk and reward, the stakes of this delicate dance can become more challenging at the tail end of an old bull market that is exhibiting rising volatility.
Harding’s Quant Hedge Fund Sees Assets Plummet by $5 Billion (Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) — Assets at David Harding’s quantitative investment firm plunged by about $5 billion last year as it shifted strategy and investors lost patience with computer-driven hedge funds. The money managed by Winton Group slumped to $23.6 billion at the end of 2018, with its flagship fund losing 0.6 percent, according to investor letters seen by Bloomberg. A spokesman for the London-based firm declined to comment.
Hedge Funds Suffer Losses of 2.27% in December 2018 (Preqin)
Hedge funds faced another tough month in December 2018, with losses increasing: the Preqin All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark returned -2.27%, bringing the 2018 full-year losses to 3.42%, the first negative year since 2011. Macro strategies hedge funds returned +0.39% in December, helping to recover losses made in November (-0.79%) and bringing the 2018 return to +0.97%, making this the only top-level strategy tracked by Preqin to generate a positive return for December. Notably, returns for both equity and event driven strategies fell sharply, returning -3.17% and -4.22% in December respectively.
The Hedge Fund Manager Who Just Paid $238 Million for a Manhattan Penthouse (The New York Times)
Kenneth Griffin, the billionaire founder of the hedge fund Citadel, broke a real estate record on Wednesday when he closed on his purchase of a penthouse at 220 Central Park South for $238 million. It’s the highest price anyone has paid for a home in the United States, and $100 million above the previous record. Mr. Griffin went to contract on the apartment, in a building that was still being developed, in 2015 amid a real estate buying spree that includes a London mansion he bought this week for 95 million pounds, or about $122 million. Here’s what we know about him.
Thursday 1/24 Insider Buying Report: GOF, ARCC (Nasdaq.com)
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy – they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. At Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund (GOF), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Tuesday, Director Randall C. Barnes purchased 5,275 shares of GOF, for a cost of $18.98 each, for a total investment of $100,096. Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund is trading up about 0.4% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Barnes bought GOF at 6 other times during the past year, for a total investment of $335,426 at an average of $20.54 per share.
Measure Seeks to Curb Insider Trading (FinancialRegNews.com)
Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced last week legislation designed to address insider trading by ensuring corporate insiders inability to engage in the practice via trading plan changes. The Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act would enable the government to address fraud and abuse within the nation’s financial system. “I am glad to join Chairwoman Waters in this meaningful effort to help the SEC better understand illicit insider trading,” McHenry, ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, said. “I look forward to working with the Chairwoman, and the Financial Services Committee as a whole, to explore ways to improve federal government oversight and protect American investors.”
United States: Insider Trading – 2018 Annual Review (Mondaq.com)
LOOKING BACK: “The crime of insider trading is a straightforward concept that some courts have somehow managed to complicate.” So lamented United States District Court Judge Jed Rakoff in December 2018. His unorthodox first sentence of a decision denying a motion to dismiss an insider trading indictment in fact understates the ambiguity and confusion that pervades the law of insider trading. Grappling with the uncertainties created by a line of cases following the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s controversial 2014 opinion in United States v. Newman, judges in the Second Circuit found themselves having to determine the criminal culpability of a defendant—as they did for Mathew Martoma—based in part on close consideration of what it means to be a friend.
Steve Bartlett Insider Trade for 200 Shares of Ares Capital (ARCC); METALLICA MINERALS LTD. ORDINARY SHARES (MLMZF) Shorts Decreased By 99% (HiNewULM.com)
METALLICA MINERALS LTD. ORDINARY SHARES (OTCMKTS:MLMZF) had a decrease of 99% in short interest. MLMZF’s SI was 100 shares in January as released by FINRA. Its down 99% from 10,000 shares previously. It closed at $0.021 lastly. It is down 0.00% since January 24, 2018 and is . It has by 0.00% the S&P500. Metallica Minerals Limited engages in the development, evaluation, and exploration of mineral properties in Australia. The company has market cap of $5.80 million. It explores for bauxite, zircon-rutile, nickel, cobalt, scandium, and graphite resources. It has a 3 P/E ratio.
