Can Hedge Fund Fortress Investment (FIG) Build The First Profitable Passenger Train System In America? (International Business Times)
A railway set to launch next year will be the first privately run inter-city service in the United States since 1971. Florida politicians have been trying since the 1960s to build a public railway, but when those efforts finally died in 2011 New York private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC stepped in. “These guys have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the government project to be nixed,” Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins said in this video on Thursday. “No one has ever come up with a project that will pay for itself,” he added.
Why did Blue Ridge Capital buy a position in PBF Energy? (Part 2) (Market Realist)
According to 13Gs Blue Ridge Capital filed last month, the hedge fund disclosed new positions in Zulily Inc (NASDAQ:ZU) and PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). Blue Ridge revealed a 7.82% stake in one of the largest independent U.S.-based refiners, PBF Energy, in December 2013. The company reported a net loss of $19.8 million in its recent 3Q 2013 results, and cited a negative impact of approximately $40 million in renewable identification numbers (RINs) expenses in the quarter.
Hedge funds’ top five currency bets for 2014 (Sydney Morning Herald)
Hedge funds think 2014 could be the year their currency bets finally pay off, after getting burned last year on trades ranging from the Australian dollar to the greenback. The influence of central banks and competition among nations to weaken their currencies to boost economic growth made 2013 a year to forget for many funds. The average macro currency fund was up just 0.42 per cent in the 11 months to November, according to Hedge Fund Research.
Hedge fund pair bet on British bank Aldermore (Financial Times)
Two leading hedge funds have invested in Aldermore, a small bank that launched in the UK in 2009, in the latest sign of growing investor appetite for British lenders. Toscafund and Lansdowne Partners have injected £40m of fresh capital into the bank, helping to fuel its growth in retail and small business lending ahead of a potential stock market listing later this year. Aldermore said the deal would “establish a wider dialogue with UK institutional investors as the bank continues to review its capital markets strategy which may, among other strategies, include an initial public offering.”
U.S. Investors Back Hedge Fund for Tilt at Southern Europe (Wall Street Journal)
Amber Capital, a roughly $1.5 billion hedge fund manager, has raised $350 million for a new fund targeting southern Europe. The manager, which has offices in London, New York and Milan, raised the money predominantly from U.S. institutional investors. The long-only Amber Southern European Equities Fund launched on December 1 and is targeting high-quality companies in a region that was at the heart of the eurozone crisis.
