Hedge Fund Highlights: Warren Buffet, Kyle Bass & Julian Robertson

What geopolitical risk? Hedge funds bet on Russia (CNNMoney)
Apparently not hedge funds, who doubled down on Russian stocks in the first quarter of the year despite increasing turmoil in Ukraine over that period. Citadel Advisors and Renaissance Technologies, among other funds, bought U.S.-listed shares of VimpelCom Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:VIP) and Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (ADR) (NYSE:MBT), two Russian telecommunications firms with significant operations in Russia and Ukraine, according to data from FactSet.

Corzine’s ambition led to MF Global demise: Flowers (CNBC.com)
Jon Corzine’s ambition exceeded what the now-defunct MF Global brokerage could handle, private equity investor J. Christopher Flowers said Tuesday. “[Corzine] was trying to drive a Volkswagen at 150 miles per hour. And it was just the wrong answer,” said the managing director and CEO of J.C. Flowers & Co., which invests in the global financial services industry.

SEC’s Insider-Trading Case Against Obus Revived on Appeal (Bloomberg)
Wynnefield Capital Inc.’s Nelson Obus traded on confidential information to make $1.3 million for his hedge fund and confessed to it twice, a lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a civil trial of Obus and two others. Paul Kisslinger, a lawyer for the SEC, told jurors in his opening statement that Obus twice confessed to getting a tip that SunSource Inc. was being sold, including in a May 2001 phone call to SunSource’s chief executive officer in which Obus allegedly told him that “a little birdie” at General Electric Capital Corp. had told him about the company’s planned sale to a “financial buyer.”

Bridgewater Vet Set For Congress Race (FINalternatives)
Former Bridgewater Associates executive Dan Debicella will get another shot at a seat in Congress in November. Connecticut Republicans overwhelmingly chose Debicella as their nominee in the state’s Fourth Congressional District, with 93% of the delegate vote against two other candidates. Debicella will face off against Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) in November. It will be the second time that Debicella has run against the now-three-term congressman from Greenwich: The two squared off in 2010, a year, like this one is expected to be, favorable to Republicans. Still, Debicella was narrowly defeated, 53% to 47%.