Fraud victim hedge fund gets $33 million in art (Newsday)
Eighteen contemporary artworks valued at $33 million have been transferred to a hedge fund victimized in a massive $400 million fraud scheme, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office said Monday. The works by such boldface artists as Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Damien Hirst had belonged to Marc Dreier, a once-prominent Manhattan lawyer whom prosecutors called “the Houdini of impersonation and false documents.” Dreier is serving 20 years in the federal prison in Sandstone, Minn., after pleading guilty to money laundering and other charges in 2009. The scheme involved the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars in fake promissory notes to hedge funds.
SAC closes a trading unit (Westfair Online)
Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors shut down Parameter Capital Management, one of its in-shop hedge funds, last week. One of the fund’s managers, Anil Stevens, is leaving SAC to start his own fund, Reuters reported, taking eight of nine people who worked in the unit with him. Stevens, according to the report, had been planning to start his own firm. Unnamed sources cited in multiple reports said the decision to close Parameter was planned before federal prosecutors last month charged SAC in a five-count indictment alleging a company culture that flouted trading rules.
Hermes seeding venture inks second hedge fund deal (Financial News)
Hermes BPK Partners, the $2.6 billion alternatives advisory boutique for the BT Pension Scheme, and US private equity firm Northern Lights Capital Group, have announced a second deal for their Accelerator Fund, which invests in early stage and emerging hedge funds. The Accelerator fund has invested in Altalis Capital Partners, a New York-based value-oriented long/short equity strategy, according to a statement from the two firms. The size of the deal was not disclosed but Altalis now has about $150 million in assets under management following the transaction, the statement said.
Hedge fund acquires 5% stake in Rangers (Herald Scotland)
Details released this afternoon by the London Stock Exchange showed that Laxey Partners now holds 3,250,000 shares and has 4.99% voting rights. It was known that around two million Rangers shares had changed hands on Monday, and today’s details were published because Laxey now has a stake above the 3% threshold which requires disclosure. The acquisition was made in the name of Credit Suisse Client Nominees UK. No further details were made public. It remains unclear who sold the shares, although former chairman Charles Green is prevented from transferring any of his stock until December.
