Activist Hedge Fund Marcato Gains 10.4 Percent In July (Reuters)
Marcato International, an activist hedge fund that mainly bets on U.S. equities, returned 10.4 percent in July, handily beating the broader stock market index’s gain, when the fund made two new investments. July’s gain helped shrink the fund’s losses for the year, leaving it down 2.7 percent through the end of July, according to a shareholder update sent to investors in the $1.5 billion fund firm and seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 3.7 percent in July and is up 7.7 percent for the year. Marcato last week said that it now owns 5.1 percent stakes in crane and heavy equipment manufacturer Terex Corp. and restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings Inc, sending the share price of both companies higher.
Hedge Funds Invest In Emerging Markets In Record Numbers (CNBC)
Hedge funds needed a profitable trade, and they just may have found it. Managers in the nearly $3 trillion industry love emerging markets, a group that had been lagging well behind other areas but recently has shown strong returns. The sector pulled in $1.2 billion in net long positions over the past month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That put total net longs to $15 billion for asset managers, the most bullish position going back to at least October 2009, which is as far back as BofAML records go. That rush of institutional cash comes at a time when emerging markets are on the comeback trail. Slumping commodity prices and fears of a slowdown in China had been hampering EM investment, but that has changed.
Bloomberg BRIEF: Hedge Fund Maps Out US Elctions (Audio) (Bloomberg)
John Tucker spoke with Hema Parmar, a Journalist of Bloomberg Editorial to preview the Bloomberg Hedge Fund Brief that comes out at 11AM Wall Street time. Highland Capital Management, a $17 billion hedge fund, is strategizing around the U.S. election by identifying sectors that they think are winners and losers depending on who wins the presidency.
AIG, MetLife Report Earnings as Big Changes Loom (The Wall Street Journal)
Some big insurers may be about to give some hints about some big changes they have in store. American International Group and MetLife post second-quarter earnings this week, with results that investors will scrutinize for signs of how the two giant insurers are morphing to deliver better returns. After the close of trading Tuesday, AIG will report its first full quarter of results since an update on Jan. 26 of strategic priorities, back when activist investors were clamoring for a three-way split of the company. In May, AIG added to its board a representative of billionaire activist Carl Icahn and hedge-fund manager John Paulson, aiming to win support for a slower-paced overhaul.
