Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Tom Steyer, Michael Burry, Three Arrow Capital (3AC), Crossfirst Bankshares Inc (CFB), and More

Billionaire Tom Steyer Bets on Weather Stations to Battle Climate (Bloomberg)
Solar-powered weather stations that beam real-time information to farmers are the first investment for Galvanize Climate Solutions, the fund launched last year by billionaire Tom Steyer and Katie Hall to battle climate change. Galvanize led a $40-million funding round for San Francisco-based Arable, whose weather equipment gives farmers information on how much sunlight and water crops are getting, and can help optimize when to irrigate or fertilize. Such visibility is becoming increasingly important amid tight on-farm labor and with drought shrinking water reserves.

Warner Bros. Discovery: Ridiculous Valuation And Michael Burry Is A Buyer (Seeking Alpha)
The combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery created a true media giant, arguably at par with Disney and Netflix. However, there’s something the market did not like as the stock sold off approximately 50% since the deal has been announced. Now the stock trades at a very favourable risk/reward ratio and is valued too cheap to not be a buy. Notably, WBD is Michael Burry‘s fourth largest holding, and he saw value at prices above $20/share. I calculate a base-case target price of $27.51/share, indicating 90% upside.

3AC: A $10B Hedge Fund Gone Bust with Founders on the Run (Coin Telegraph)
3AC downfall has led to a multi-billion dollar cascade that has claimed the likes of Celsius, Voyager and many other crypto lending firms with exposure to the hedge fund. Three Arrow Capital (3AC), a Singapore-based crypto hedge fund that at one point managed over $10 billion worth of assets, became one of the many crypto firms that went bankrupt in this bear market. However, the fall of 3AC wasn’t purely a market-driven phenomenon. As more information surfaced, the collapse looked more like a self-inflicted crisis brought upon by an unchecked decision-making process.

Former SAC Capital Portfolio Manager Tor Minesuk's Top 10 Stock Picks for 2021

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Opalesque Roundup: Hedge Funds Slip to -5.6% YTD in June: Hedge Fund News, Week 27 (Opalesque.com)
In the week ending July 22nd 2022, a report said that hedge funds declined for a third consecutive month in June with a return of -2.7%, recording their worst monthly performance since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Following the retreat, the Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index has slipped to -5.6% YTD, marking its worst H1 performance since inception. Global equities, as represented by the S&P 500, fell by a staggering 8.4% as investors moved to price in an increased risk of recession as the Federal Reserve embarked on an aggressive series of interest rate hikes to fight soaring inflation.

Schroders Acquires Strategic Stake in Digital Assets-Focused Manager Forteus (InstitutionalAssetManager.co.uk)
Schroders has taken a strategic minority stake in Forteus, an asset manager focused on blockchain technology and digital assets that is headed by senior former executives from the alternative investment industry. Forteus – which is based in Zug with an office in New York – is the asset management arm of the Numeus Group, a diversified digital asset investment firm led by Nobel Gulati, who was formerly CEO at leading US-based systematic hedge fund group Two Sigma Advisors.

Connection Capital Survey Reveals Increase in HNWI Alternative Investment Allocations (Hedge Week)
High net worth investors (HNWIs) are including much higher weightings of alternative investments in their portfolios than five years ago, with four in 10 investors (41%) now allocating more than 20% to the asset class, according to research by Connection Capital, a specialist private client alternative investments business. Private investors’ exposure to alternative investments has been increasing steadily as they hunt for superior returns and diversification from quoted markets. In 2018, the first year the survey was carried out, a quarter (26%) of respondents had 20% or more of their portfolios invested in alternatives, and this had risen to around a third (35%) last year.

Innovator ETFs Announces New Upside Cap Ranges for August Series of U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs (GlobeNewswire)
CHICAGO, July 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Innovator Capital Management, LLC (Innovator) today announced the anticipated upside cap ranges and return profiles for the August series of the U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs™ – Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF™ – August (BAUG), Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF™ – August (PAUG) and Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer ETF™ – August (UAUG) – which are scheduled to complete their second annual outcome period and reset at the end of the month. The 36 total ETFs in the flagship U.S. Equity Buffer ETF lineup seek to provide investors with upside participation, to a cap, in Large-cap U.S. stocks via options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) with buffers against market losses of 9%, 15% or 30% over one-year periods.

Put Short Selling on the ESG Investing Table, Say Hedge Fund Managers (WealthProfessional.ca)
Investors engaged in accomplishing environmental, social, and governance objectives have favoured shareholder activism and divestment as their preferred strategy. However, it may also be beneficial to take short positions on businesses that violate ESG regulations. James Jampel, founder of the US$700-million hedge fund HITE Asset Management, argues that shorting can be a powerful tool in helping reduce carbon emissions across the economy, reported Institutional Investor. Since it permits investors to avoid the conflict of interest that results from keeping long positions in ESG laggard businesses, it may even be more effective than shareholder participation.

Monday 7/25 Insider Buying Report: CFB (Nasdaq.com)
On Thursday, CrossFirst Bankshares’ CFO, Benjamin R. Clouse, made a $97,425 purchase of CFB, buying 7,500 shares at a cost of $12.99 a piece. So far Clouse is in the green, up about 4.7% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $13.60. CrossFirst Bankshares is trading up about 3.5% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Clouse made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $107,226 shares at a cost of $14.49 each.

Former U.S. Congressman Buyer Charged with Insider Trading Ahead of Telecoms Merger (Reuters)
NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) – Former U.S. Congressman Stephen Buyer has been charged with insider trading over purchases of shares in telecommunications company Sprint before it merged with T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O), prosecutors said on Monday. Buyer, a Republican who represented Indiana in Congress between 1993 and 2011, was working as a consultant to T-Mobile ahead of the 2018 merger, according to an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.