Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Maverick Capital, Starboard Value, D.E. Shaw, Saba Capital Management, NOMA Capital, Sight Sciences Inc (SGHT), Alphabet Inc (GOOG), and More

SohnX San Francisco Fireside Chat Features Prometheus Alternative Investments in Conversation with Lee S. Ainslie III of Maverick Capital (Businesswire)
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE) — Prometheus Alternative Investments is excited to participate in the 2021 SohnX San Francisco Investment Conference on October 27 from 12:00 – 3:00pm PDT. The virtual event’s finale is a Fireside Chat with Prometheus Correspondent Amelia Martyn-Hemphill and keynote speaker Lee S. Ainslie III, founder and Manager Partner of Maverick Capital. “Our media team is excited to share insights and stories from investment professionals with everyone on Prometheus. Thank you to the Sohn Conference Foundation for the opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with hedge fund legend Lee Ainslie,” said Martyn-Hemphill, a journalist and filmmaker whose resume includes BBC News, Bloomberg TV, and Jim Cramer’s TheStreet.com.

D.E. Shaw, Saba Among Firms Winning Big on Trump SPAC Plan (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds including D.E. Shaw and Saba Capital Management own stakes in a special purpose acquisition company that surged Thursday after former President Donald Trump announced plans to create his own publicly traded media firm through a reverse merger. Highbridge Capital Management and Palm Beach, Florida-based Lighthouse Investment Partners also hold shares of the blank-check company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Digital World skyrocketed 190% to $28.92 at 12:40 p.m. in New York as retail investors piled into the stock, which was the top purchase on Fidelity’s platform.

Hedge Fund Industry Sees Lower Net Inflows, Performance Gains in Q3 – HFR (Pensions & Investments)
Estimated total net inflows into hedge funds of $5.6 billion in the third quarter were less than half of the estimated $12.3 billion of net inflows in the second quarter, research company HFR said in a report Wednesday. Performance-based asset growth also was much lower — an estimated $2.4 billion — in the third quarter compared with $145.9 billion in the quarter ended June 30, according to HFR data.

Hedge Funds Edge Towards USD4 Trillion Milestone as Volatility Surges (Hedge Week)
Total hedge fund industry assets have swelled to almost USD4 trillion globally, a rise of nearly USD370 billion since the start of this year, according to new capital flows data. Hedge fund managers attracted USD5.6 billion of new investor money throughout the third quarter, supplemented by marginal performance-based gains, putting total industry capital at USD3.97 trillion overall, Hedge Fund Research stats show.

NOMA Goes for the Private Sector (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Oslo-based asset manager NOMA Capital has launched a closed-end actively managed alternative investment fund that invests in early-stage private companies. Launched in the third quarter, NOMA Vekst I is the first of a series of planned fund launches by NOMA Capital that focus on early-stage companies, according to the asset manager’s latest quarterly investor letter.

Starboard Discloses Willis Towers Stake, Says Broker Undervalued (Bloomberg)
Activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a new position in Willis Towers Watson Plc Thursday, and said it believes the insurance broker could nearly double its share price in the next three years. Jeff Smith, Starboard’s chief executive officer, said Willis Towers is undervalued and that the company has underperformed since 2016 because of poor execution and failed promises, among other things. At the same time, he sees no evidence that the company has a structural disadvantage to its peers.

Billionaire Trader Paul Tudor Jones Sounds the Inflation Alarm, Touts Bitcoin over Gold, and Warns Stocks could Fall in a New Interview. Here are the 8 Best Quotes. (Business Insider)
Paul Tudor Jones urged the Federal Reserve to tackle rising prices, trumpeted cryptocurrency as a better inflation hedge than gold, and suggested the Chinese government’s recent crackdowns are hurting its economy in a CNBC interview this week. The billionaire trader and founder of Tudor Investment Corporation also warned inflation is the greatest danger to investors right now, and cautioned stocks could fall if the Fed cools the economy.

Inflows Decrease but Remain Positive (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Hedge funds attracted $5.6 billion of net investor inflows in the third quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of net inflows for the industry, according to Hedge Fund Research. Following marginal performance-based asset gains of $2.4 billion during the quarter, total hedge fund capital rose narrowly to an estimated $3.97 trillion at the end of September, representing an increase of about $370 billion from the start of the year.

K2 Hedge Fund Strategy Outlook: Fourth Quarter 2021 (Seeking Alpha)
As we move into Q4, markets are in a tug-of-war involving various good news vs. bad news debates. COVID-19 cases are declining, but central banks are considering tightening monetary policy. Earnings growth is strong, but year-over-year comparisons will become tougher. Employment statistics are improving, but supply chain constraints persist. These debates and others lead us to believe that certain hedge fund strategies will outperform in a potentially choppy environment.

Global Hedge Fund Capital Steady as Industry Positions for Inflation, Rising Rates (Opalesque)
Opalesque Industry Update – Total hedge fund industry capital increased narrowly in the third quarter as equity and interest rate volatility escalated, while managers and investors positioned for additional volatility through year-end. Spurred by $5.6 billion of net investor inflows, as well as marginal performance-based gains, total hedge fund capital rose narrowly to an estimated $3.97 trillion to end 3Q 2021, representing an increase of nearly $370 billion from the start of the year, as reported by HFR, in the latest release of the HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report. As reported previously, total hedge fund industry capital has soared by over $1 trillion in the trailing six quarters since falling below $3 trillion in 1Q20 as the global pandemic began. With the $5.6 billion of inflows for 3Q21, net inflows since 3Q20 have totaled an estimated $40 billion.

Thursday 10/21 Insider Buying Report: SGHT, TPL (Nasdasq.com)
At Sight Sciences, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Monday, Director Staffan Encrantz bought 527,048 shares of SGHT, at a cost of $24.00 each, for a total investment of $12.65M. So far Encrantz is in the green, up about 4.4% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $25.07. Sight Sciences is trading up about 7.9% on the day Thursday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Encrantz in the past year. And at Texas Pacific Land, there was insider buying on Monday, by Director Murray Stahl who purchased 22 shares at a cost of $1225.00 each, for a total investment of $26,950. Before this latest buy, Stahl purchased TPL on 198 other occasions during the past year, for a total cost of $7.86M at an average of $1341.51 per share. Texas Pacific Land is trading down about 0.9% on the day Thursday. So far Stahl is in the green, up about 3.6% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $1269.23.

Alphabet Insider Trades $39M In Company Stock (Benzinga)
Larry Page, Director at Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), made a large insider sell on October 19, according to a new SEC filing. What Happened: A Form 4 filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday showed that Page sold 13,889 shares of Alphabet at prices ranging from $2,863 to $2,879. The total transaction amounted to $39,901,686.

The CFO of Truist Financial (NYSE: TFC) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the CFO of Truist Financial (TFC), Daryl Bible, bought shares of TFC for $3.83M. This recent transaction increases Daryl Bible’s holding in the company by 39.37% to a total of $22.59 million. Following Daryl Bible’s last TFC Buy transaction on January 25, 2017, the stock climbed by 22.5%.