George Soros and Citadel Among the Winners as Trainline Shares Plunge (Market Watch)
Shares of ticket seller Trainline fell as much as 33% on Thursday, after the U.K. outlined a railroad infrastructure plan that would include operating a rival ticketing app. Trainline TRN, -23.22% was shorted by a number of high-profile investors, including billionaire investor George Soros’ SFM UK Management, Citadel Europe and Connecticut hedge fund Paloma Partners, according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s register of short positions.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Got 211 Billionaires to Pledge Half their Wealth to Charity. Now Some are Falling Short — and Still Getting Massive Tax Breaks. (Business Insider)
It was the winter of 2010 and Mark Zuckerberg was in a hurry. A few months earlier, 40 of America’s richest families had signed the Giving Pledge, a public promise initiated by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to give at least half of their wealth to charitable causes. Death was the Giving Pledge deadline. You could give half your money away beforehand, or you could leave it to charity in your will. Zuckerberg, who at age 26 was among the second group of Giving Pledge signers, made clear that he did not intend to wait nearly that long.
Griffin, Loeb Donations Blasted by NYC Mayor Candidate Stringer (Bloomberg)
Scott Stringer, the New York City Comptroller who is running for mayor, criticized hedge fund managers Ken Griffin and Dan Loeb for contributing to political committees that support his opponents in the race, accusing the billionaire money managers of trying to privatize public education. Griffin, the founder of Citadel, and Loeb, founder of Third Point LLC, each gave $500,000 to independent political action committees known as super PACs that support Eric Adams and Andrew Yang, two of Stringer’s opponents in the upcoming June 22 Democratic primary for mayor.
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Tribune Publishing Shareholders to Vote Friday on Hedge Fund Alden’s $633 Million Offer for Chicago-Based Newspaper Chain (Chicago Tribune)
Friday is a pivotal day for the 174-year-old Chicago Tribune, Tribune Publishing and the struggling newspaper industry. Barring an eleventh hour, fully financed rival bid, Tribune Publishing shareholders are set to vote on a $633 million proposal by hedge fund Alden Global Capital to buy the Chicago-based newspaper chain and take it private.
Schroders Joins Investor Rebellion Over FirstGroup Deal (Reuters)
(Reuters) – FirstGroup’s second-biggest investor Schroders said on Thursday it plans to vote against the British company’s $4.6 billion sale of the North American bus businesses to private equity firm EQT, joining top investor Coast Capital in opposing the deal. “After careful consideration of the merits of the proposed sale of First Student and First Transit, we have the intention of voting against the deal as it stands, as we believe it undervalues these businesses,” a Schroders spokesperson said.
Timing It Right (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – In the February-March period of 2020, market participants went from thinking everything was flawless to hopeless amid heightened concerns about the spread of coronavirus outside of China and its ramifications for the global economy. Malmö-based money manager Mikael Petersson followed Warren Buffett’s advice of betting big “when there’s blood in the streets” to launch a second fund, a concentrated long-only equity fund, Coeli European Opportunities.
How “Omnipresent” Client Conferencing is a Game-Changer for Hedge Fund Manager-Investor Relationships (Hedge Week)
The increased frequency of client communications during the pandemic has been a “game-changer” for the hedge fund manager-allocator dynamic, according to speakers on the fundraising and investor relations panel at this year’s hedgeweekLIVE Technology Summit. The discussion explored how investor relations and fundraising has been reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, and weighed up how the past 15 months of virtual networking may have permanently altered client communications, capital introduction, investor appetite and more. Greg Zaffiro, partner and head of IR and marketing at Electron Capital, a global long/short equity manager which manages more than USD2 billion and focuses on mainly on public utilities, said the frequency of investor updates has been a seismic shift.
Hedge Funds Pitch Crypto Platform, Japanese Lasers, Steel Producers and More (Bloomberg)
Chinese steel producers, a cryptocurrency platform, Japanese lasers and parking lots and a Vietnamese jeweler were among bets pitched by Asia hedge funds at the Sohn Investment conference in Hong Kong. Keita Arisawa, founder and chief investment officer of Seiga Asset Management is bullish on Tokyo-listed QD Laser Inc. Marshall Wace Asia Chief Executive Officer Amit Rajpal is backing digital broker Monex Group Inc. Rajesh Sachdeva, founding partner of Flowering Tree Investment Management, is betting on Vietnam’s Phu Nhuan Jewelry JSC, while Oasis Capital Management called for a merger of two of China’s biggest steel makers.
Alphawave Lures £11m Hedge Fund Short Bet After Rocky IPO (Financial News)
Carmignac Gestion has taken the first major short position against Alphawave, after the semiconductor tech firm suffered a rocky start to its London debut. The European hedge fund disclosed a short position of around 0.52% of Alphawave shares on 19 May, according to filings published by the Financial Conduct Authority and analysed by research firm Breakout Point. That equates to a bet of roughly £11.4m, based on a market capitalisation of £2.2bn.
Billionaire Steven Cohen Snaps Up Shares of Uber: Here’s What You Need to Know (Nasdaq.com)
One such Wall Street guru is Steven Cohen. As Chairman and CEO of Stamford, Connecticut-based Point72 Asset Management, Cohen leads a 1,650-person registered investment advisory firm. Cohen and his firm are well renowned in the financial community. In 2020, Point72 posted a 16% gain. Additionally, according to Forbes, as of May 2021, Cohen’s net worth is around $16 billion. Cohen has been in the investing business since the 1970s. He founded S.A.C. Capital Advisors in 1992, and in 2014, converted his investment operations to the Point72 Asset Management family office. Sports fans might also recognize him as the owner of the New York Mets major league baseball team. Recently, Point72 upped its stake in Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER). The stock, with its considerable upside potential, could really thrive in the economic recovery.
The Average Billion-Dollar Club Hedge Fund is Up 6.1% YTD After a 2.5% Gain in April (Opalesque)
Opalesque Industry Update – Hedge funds managing over $1bn outperformed their sub-$1bn peers in April, aided by another surge in event-driven performance, said HFM. The billion-dollar club (BDC) hedge funds rose 2.5% last month compared to an average 2.2% gain in the sub-BDC range, but the latter group remains ahead YTD, up 7.6% versus a BDC gain of 6.1%. A renewal in corporate dealmaking helped merger arbitrage advance in April to maintain the performance momentum in event-driven. The big gains gleaned from backing Spac-structures, which boosted returns in January and February, have been less of a recent performance driver.
Thursday 5/20 Insider Buying Report: APP, VNRX (Nasdaq.com)
At Applovin, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Monday, Director Eduardo Vivas purchased 16,883 shares of APP, for a cost of $59.23 each, for a total investment of $1M. Vivas was up about 15.7% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with APP trading as high as $68.55 in trading on Thursday. Applovin is trading up about 5.1% on the day Thursday. And also on Monday, Director Guy Archibald Innes bought $502,500 worth of VolitionRx, buying 150,000 shares at a cost of $3.35 each. VolitionRx is trading up about 2.1% on the day Thursday. Innes was up about 10.4% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with VNRX trading as high as $3.70 in trading on Thursday.
The Shareholder of New Found Gold Corp (Other OTC: NFGFF) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Shareholder of New Found Gold Corp (NFGFF), Eric Steven Sprott, bought shares of NFGFF for $1.73M. Following Eric Steven Sprott’s last NFGFF Buy transaction on April 26, 2021, the stock climbed by 2.0%. Following this transaction Eric Steven Sprott’s holding in the company was increased by 1% to a total of $207 million.
