These Hedge Funds Just Went From Best to Worst (Institutional Investor)
At least six hedge funds, including Woodson Capital Management, posted their worst-ever results in 2021 after huge gains in 2020. What a difference a year makes! Just ask one of the many of the hedge funds that suffered steep losses in 2021 after posting gains the prior year. At least six funds posted their worst-ever results last year, after generating their biggest gains ever in 2020.
Value-Investing Titan Seth Klarman Opens up About Rising Inflation, Trump, and Ballooning Opportunities for His $31 Billion Baupost (Business Insider)
Seth Klarman is concerned about the state of the world. That doesn’t mean he’s lacking optimism for his $31 billion hedge fund. Klarman, the CEO of the $31 billion fund Baupost, outlined the state of the US in a 25-page annual letter to investors earlier this month. The picture he painted was of a socially divided, pandemic-weary nation plagued by get-rich-quick schemes and rising inflation.
Wall Street’s Fink, Dalio Welcome Back Big Oil on ESG, Inflation (Bloomberg)
Wall Street’s biggest investors are welcoming back oil and gas stocks, and not just because of their knock-out performance over the past 18 months. Forward-looking fossil fuel producers will play a “critical” role in decarbonizing the world economy, BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said in his annual letter to CEOs on Monday. Meanwhile Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, praised their role in tamping down inflation.
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U.S. Hedge Fund Farallon Calls on Toshiba to Get Two-Thirds of Shareholders to Back Break-Up (Reuters)
TOKYO, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Farallon Capital Management on Tuesday urged Toshiba Corp (6502.T) to secure the legally required support of two-thirds of its shareholders before the Japanese industrial conglomerate continues with a controversial plan to split in three.
Tackling Private Capital Funds’ Data Management Challenge (Preqin)
The world of private capital is changing, as more demanding investors expect better data from fund managers. Our recent Future of Fund Technology survey found the most time-consuming task for private capital funds was managing corporate action, distributions, and investor reporting. That’s about to get more complex.
Month and Year in Review: 2021 (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic hedge funds booked an average gain of 1.2 percent in December to end the year on a firm footing and achieve a full-year gain of almost 6.0 percent. This follows the 8.3 percent advance for 2020, the industry’s best annual performance since 2010. As in 2020, much of the industry’s 2021 advance was fueled by the strong performance of equity-focused hedge funds, which gained 10.0 percent last year.
Dan Loeb Joins the List of the Best Hedge Fund Managers of All Time (Institutional Investor)
Last week Dan Loeb, the founder of hedge fund Third Point, took to Twitter to post an existential thought: “We are born alone; we die alone; and, we face bear markets alone.” But whatever worries he may have about 2022’s dreary markets, there is one place Loeb is not alone: He just made an annual list of “the world’s greatest money managers” for the first time ever. Loeb comes in at number 20, the bottom of the list, which is compiled annually by Rick Sopher, chairman of LCH Investments in London. It calculates how much money investors took home from the hedge funds both during the past year and since they opened their funds.
AMG and Leda Braga Acquire Remaining Stake in Systematica (Hedge Week)
Affiliated Managers Group (AMG), a leading partner to independent investment management firms globally, and Leda Braga, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Systematica, have jointly acquired the remaining minority equity interest in the firm previously owned by a third-party investor. Following the transaction, which completes the full transition of equity ownership planned since Systematica’s spin-out as an independent firm in 2015, Braga holds an increased majority ownership position, and AMG holds a substantial minority interest in the firm. Systematica is among the largest woman-owned and -led alternative firms in the asset management industry.
Activist Investor Macellum Urges Kohl’s to Explore Sale, Other Options (Reuters)
Jan 18 (Reuters) – Activist hedge fund Macellum Advisors GP LLC said on Tuesday that Kohl’s Corp (KSS.N) should explore strategic options, including a sale, if the retailer does not improve its business to boost its stock price.
Advent, Centerbridge Lower Threshold, Extend Offer for Aareal (Bloomberg)
Advent International and Centerbridge Partners lowered the minimum acceptance threshold and extended the offer period for Aareal Bank AG after two of the German lender’s biggest investors rejected their 1.74 billion-euro ($2 billion) takeover bid over diverging views on valuation. The offer will now be conditional on a 60% acceptance rate, instead of 70%, the bidders said in a statement on Tuesday. They also gave shareholders another two weeks, until Feb. 2, to tender their stock.
This Odey Fund Explains How Shorts Can Indirectly Boost Absolute Returns (Forbes)
Odey‘s LF Brook Absolute Return Fund had a challenging fourth quarter with a return of -4.6%, although its full-year return for 2021 was 9.9%. On the other hand, the MSCI World Index gained 22.95% for 2021. The Brook fund has enjoyed a compound annual growth rate of 12.9% since its inception in 2009.
Tuesday 1/18 Insider Buying Report: VOXX, JEF (Nasdaq.com)
On Friday, Voxx International’s, Beat Kahli, made a $333,281 buy of VOXX, purchasing 32,139 shares at a cost of $10.37 each. Kahli was up about 7.2% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with VOXX trading as high as $11.12 in trading on Tuesday. Voxx International Corp is trading up about 3.8% on the day Tuesday. Before this latest buy, Kahli bought VOXX at 18 other times during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $2.37M at an average of $11.72 per share.And on Thursday, Melissa Weiler bought $149,946 worth of Jefferies Group, buying 4,000 shares at a cost of $37.49 each. Before this latest buy, Weiler made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $128,000 shares for a cost of $32.00 a piece. Jefferies Group is trading off about 0.9% on the day Tuesday.
Microsoft Buys Game Maker Activision Blizzard for about $70B (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Microsoft is paying nearly $70 billion for Activision Blizzard, the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty, as it seeks an edge in the fiercely competitive businesses of mobile gaming and virtual-reality technology.
