Hedge Funds’ Best Ideas No Better Than the Rest of Their Ideas (Bloomberg)
When hedge fund stars such as Bill Ackman, Lee Ainslie or Keith Meister speak at conferences, stocks can jump or sink. Yet managers’ highest-conviction ideas aren’t necessarily any better than the ones that support the rest of their portfolios, according to a new report that analyzed the stock-picking of almost 1,500 hedge funds over 20 years. “The focus on hedge fund stock picks at idea conferences and events is misguided and possibly counterproductive,” said the researchers from New York University and Epsilon Asset Management. “Our analysis points to no systematic outperformance of these best ideas versus other portfolio positions held by hedge fund managers, across all size funds, and over all time periods.”
Hedge Fund Elliott Management to Finance Lawsuit Against Streamer Quibi (The Wall Street Journal)
Elliott, run by billionaire Paul Singer, will fund the suit by interactive-video company Eko and take an equity stake. Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. is financing a high-stakes patent lawsuit against Quibi, the new streaming service founded by entertainment veteran Jeffrey Katzenberg, according to people familiar with the situation, putting power players of Wall Street and Hollywood on a collision course. Elliott has agreed to fund a suit brought by interactive-video company Eko, which claims Quibi is violating its patents and has stolen trade secrets, the people said. As part of the financing, Elliott would end up with an equity stake,…
Warren Buffett Isn’t Buying Anything (The New York Times)
Warren Buffett is more worried than usual: The “Oracle of Omaha” initially exhibited his usual optimism on Saturday during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, held online for the first time. But, Andrew writes in his latest column, Mr. Buffett appears fairly gloomy if you dig deeper: It was unsettling on Saturday to hear him repeatedly say “I don’t know.” He was careful to say the markets would improve in the long term — though his time frame for certainty was decades, not months or not even necessarily years from now. About the current climate, he said, “You can bet on America, but you kind of have to be careful about how you bet.”
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Steve Cohen’s Former Right-Hand Man is Launching His Own Fund. Here’s Everything We Know About Tom Conheeney’s EmeraldRidge Advisors. (Business Insider)
A new hedge fund is coming to challenge some of the biggest investors in the game. Former SAC Capital president Tom Conheeney is in the process of building up his new firm, EmeraldRidge Advisors, which will be a multi-manager, long-short-equity-focused firm similar to the giants that currently dominate the industry, including Conheeney’s old boss, billionaire Point72 founder Steve Cohen. Sources say the firm is hoping to launch in the first quarter of 2021, and Conheeney is in the process of building out his executive and investment teams at the moment. Sources close to the firm were hesitant to name a target AUM Conheeney is hoping to launch with, as he will have to fundraise during the global pandemic that has eliminated the chance a roadshow for potential investors happens anytime soon.
Hedge Fund Association Announces Results of 2020 Global Board of Directors Election (BusinessWire.com)
NEW YORK — (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Hedge Fund Association (“HFA”), a leading international nonprofit trade and nonpartisan lobbying organization, is pleased to announce the results of its 2020 Global Board of Directors election. HFA members re-elected Camille Clemons, Jennifer Keeney and Emily Slocum, and elected Jill Calton, Lauri Goodwyn, James Koutoulas, Alexander Reyes and Joshua Stone. All HFA Directors are volunteers serving for up to 2 consecutive 3-year terms. “We are thrilled to enhance our global leadership with these outstanding Directors representing a cross-section of diverse executives from the alternative investment industry. While HFA’s live events are on pause during the current environment, our board, regional directors and committees will continue to expand member programs, including virtual educational and networking events,” said Mitch Ackles, HFA’s Global President.
Hedge Funds’ Use of Alternative Data Tipped to Surge, New Industry Study Finds (Hedge Week)
More than half of hedge fund managers are now using alternative data to gain a competitive edge, according to a wide-ranging new study into alt data trends by the Alternative Investment Management Association and fund services provider SS&C. The report, ‘Casting the Net: How Hedge Funds are Using Alternative Data’, explores the ways in which hedge funds now utilise alternative datasets – defined as unconventional, non-market and non-traditional economic and financial information, such as satellite imagery, social media trends and weather patterns – in their businesses. The study, jointly published by AIMA and SS&C today, quizzed some 100 hedge fund managers globally, collectively managing about USD720 billion in assets across strategies, including equity long/short, relative value, event driven, macro and CTAs, among others.
Billionaire Hedge-Fund Manager Bill Ackman Breaks Down his 3-Part Investing Methodology — and Makes a Case for ‘a Really Cheap Interesting Stock Run by the Best Investor in the World’ (Business Insider)
“I’ve always had this view that success is not a straight line up.” That’s what Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, said on “The Knowledge Project With Shane Parrish” when asked about his prior shortcomings. “I’ve always had the view that how successful you are is really a function of how you deal with failure,” he said. “And if you deal with failure well, and you persist, you have a high probability of being successful.”
Citadel’s Annual Data Open Goes Virtual in 2020 (Pensions&Investments)
Who better than teams of college data scientists to ace — remotely — a contest for cash and the chance to work at one of the world’s best-known hedge funds? Because of the COVID-19 crisis, Chicago-based hedge fund manager Citadel LLC and sister company Citadel Securities LLC held their third-annual Data Open Championship virtually. Nearly 1,000 undergraduate and graduate college students from the U.S., U.K. and France competed in 11 regional competitions during the 2019-2020 academic year, a Citadel news release said.
FCA’s Stark Warning: Insider Traders will be Caught During Covid-19 Crisis (FNLondon.com)
The City’s top market watchdog has warned insider traders that it will catch them, even during the coronavirus outbreak. Mark Steward, the Financial Conduct Authority’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, told Financial News that the regulator was bracing for an uptick in market abuse cases in the coming months.
Monday 5/4 Insider Buying Report: UNTY, CINF (Nasdaq.com)
On Thursday, Unity Bancorp’s , David D. Dallas, made a $305,550 buy of UNTY, purchasing 20,000 shares at a cost of $15.28 a piece. Unity Bancorp is trading off about 7.2% on the day Monday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Dallas in the past year. And on Wednesday, Dirk J. Debbink purchased $144,500 worth of Cincinnati Financial, purchasing 2,000 shares at a cost of $72.25 each. Before this latest buy, Debbink bought CINF on 4 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $182,865 at an average of $92.63 per share. Cincinnati Financial is trading off about 2.7% on the day Monday. Bargain hunters can snag CINF at a price even lower than Debbink did, with shares changing hands as low as $58.67 at last check today — that’s 18.8% below Debbink’s purchase price.
Top Insider Buys Highlight for the Week of May 1 (Guru Focus)
The largest Insider Buys this week were for AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO), Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE:SCHW) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL). AT&T director bought 36,000 shares. Director Stephen J. Luczo bought 36,000 shares on April 22 for an average price of $29.38. The share price has increased by 1.77% since then. AT&T is a multinational telecommunications conglomerate that is the second-largest provider of mobile telephone services and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the U.S. It also provides broadband subscription television services through DirecTV. The company has a market capitalization of $213.04 billion; as of May 1, it traded at $29.90.
The COO of Ford Motor (NYSE: F) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the COO of Ford Motor (F), James D. Farley, bought shares of F for $998.1K. Following this transaction James D. Farley’s holding in the company was increased by 30.75% to a total of $4.08 million. This is Farley’s first Buy trade following 10 Sell transactions.
Notable Insider Buys This Past Week: Immunomedics, Simply Good Foods And More (Benzinga)
Insiders continued to add shares despite overall market volatility and global economic gloom. Here are some of the most noteworthy insider purchases reported in the past week. Immunomedics: An Immunomedics, Inc. (IMMU) director took advantage of a common stock offering to add 1.75 million shares. At the offering price of $28.50 per share, that cost the director almost $49.88 million and raised the stake to 26.25 million shares. Shares outstanding number fewer and 180 million. Immunomedics stock ended last week’s trading at $30.38 per share, so the purchase seems well timed. The share price is up more than 157% since its year-to-date low last month. Myovant Sciences: Myovant Sciences Ltd (MYOV) saw 10% owner Sumitomo Chemical purchase about 190,500 shares of this London-based biopharmaceutical company last week at prices averaging about $12.05 apiece. That totaled almost $2.30 million. Note that Myovant’s parent is a subsidiary of Sumitomo, which frequently has been buying shares since establishing a Rule 10b5-1 stock trading plan during the market’s pandemic selling panic in mid-March. Myovant stock ended the week trading at $11.15, below the above purchase price. However, shares are still up more than 68% from their year-to-date low in March.
