Greenlight Posts Big Gains in November (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital posted a strong 4.7 percent gain in November, putting it up 19.1 percent for the year with just one month to go. The most recent monthly performance easily topped the 2.80 percent gain posted by the S&P 500 (3.05 percent with dividends reinvested). But the New York hedge fund’s return for the first 11 months of the year still falls well short of the 26.62 percent gain by the benchmark over the same period. Even so, Greenlight, managed by the firm of the same name, is likely to finish the year with its best performance since 2009.
Hedge Fund Association and Asset.tv Launch ‘HFA TV’ (HeraldOnline)
The Hedge Fund Association and Asset.tv are proud to announce the launch of “HFA TV,” a new online channel featuring over 2,500 videos by hedge fund managers, institutional and high-net worth investors, industry service providers and Asset.tv content partners. HFA TV is now available to watch on demand via The Hedge Fund Association’s website, Asset.tv, and the Bloomberg and Reuters professional networks. “We are pleased to be able to further enhance our member’s reach through the HFA’s new alliance with Asset.tv,” said Ron Geffner, Vice President of the HFA.
Northwest Warrant Fund Returns 203% This Year on Japan Trades (Bloomberg)
Northwest Warrant Fund Ltd., the best-performing equity hedge fund tracked by Bloomberg in the past year, returned 203 percent in the first 10 months betting that Japan’s stimulus will bolster stock prices. The $32 million fund has investments in almost $500 million worth of convertible bonds, said George Philips, chief executive officer of Northwest Investment Management (HK) Ltd., which runs it. More than 80 percent of its investments are tied to Japan and Northwest plans to keep it at that level, he said.
Investor demand drives move to alternative mutual funds (CNBC)
As pension funds, endowments and charities clamour for access to hedge fund strategies that are cheap, transparent and liquid, US hedge fund managers are rushing to meet their requests by rolling-out alternative mutual funds. An American version of the “hedge-fund lite” Ucits funds popular in Europe – so-called liquid alternative funds, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 – is in vogue. US hedge fund managers are looking to introduce whizzy new investment vehicles as investors scorn low bond yields and more than $2.7tn in cash “sits on the sidelines” of markets, according to calculations by JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) in a recent report.
Mosman Residents Take On Legendary Hedge Fund Manager Greg Coffey (BusinessInsider)
International hedge fund manager Greg Coffey has plans to build a magnificent 10 bedroom $8 million mansion in Sydney’s north shore, but his Mosman neighbours aren’t happy. The local showdown has already seen seven objections to the plans handed to the Mosman Council, all with the same consensus– Coffey’s plans are of “excessive scale and magnitude” and, well, “out of sync with the surrounding mansions”. “It’s not as though he needs to go any higher to get a view. He has got it all over,” one disgruntled resident told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Hedge fund downgrades stock over company’s links to illegal logging in Russian Far East (MongaBay)
A hedge fund manager has downgraded Lumber Liquidators’ stock over the company’s alleged links to illegal logging in the Russian Far East, reports The Wall Street Journal. Speaking at the Robin Hood Investors Conference on November 22, Whitney Tilson, the founder of Kase Capital Management, said Lumber Liquidators’ stock price may be inflated due to purchases of illegally sourced timber from Russia, which is less costly than legitimately-sourced wood. He set a two-year price target of $53 for the stock, which was trading at $115 at the time. The stock plunged 12 percent after the presentation.
Hedge funds moving into non-traditional spheres (CNBC)
40 Act fund space is promising but some funds may not have true liquidity (Opalesque)
Panelists at the recent Alternative Assets Summit in Las Vegas said that costs to bring a ’40 Act to market had dropped significantly and that it now takes around four months to structure a fund. Indeed, now a lot of U.S. alternative fund managers are launching ’40 Act hedge fund-style mutual funds (funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940), the most recent being Franklin Templeton and K2 Advisors, Morgan Creek and Blackstone Alternative Asset Management. Despite some of the unknown challenges, many of the hedge fund managers and funds of funds involved in ’40 Act funds feel the game is just beginning, said a recent report from Infovest21, a research firm. Only about 1.1% of all mutual fund assets i.e. $108 billion are currently in alternative ’40 Act funds, according to Morningstar.
Ex-Eminence Execs. To Launch $200 Million Hedge Fund (Finalternatives)
A pair of Eminence Capital veterans are set to launch a hedge fund of their own with at least $200 million in initial assets. Hari Ramanan and Adam Ryan have founded Valarc Holdings in New York. The two plan to build a concentrated long/short global equities portfolio, The Wall Street Journal reports, similar to the strategy employed by Eminence, which is up 8.43% this year and returned 24% last year. Investors in Valarc will be subject to a four-year lockup. Ramanan was a European and emerging-markets portfolio manager at Eminence, while Ryan served as a senior analyst. The $4.5 billion hedge fund has been in the news lately with its foray into activism, pushing for a merger between Jos. A. Bank Clothiers and The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE:MW), which it owns 10% of.
Jim Rogers: Abolish The “Incompetent” US Federal Reserve (LiveTradingNews)
Jim Rogers: Abolish The “Incompetent” US Federal Reserve Legendary investment guru Jim Rogers not only thinks Federal Reserve policy is incompetent, he thinks the entire institution should be abolished. When asked recently what he’d do if he was named chairman of the central bank, Rogers said, “I would abolish the Federal Reserve, and then I would resign.” The world has survived just fine without central banks for most of its history, he noted. “America has had 3 central banks in its history. The first two disappeared,” Mr.Rogers said. “This one will too, because they keep . . . leveraging up the balance sheet. They keep making mistake after mistake. They keep printing money.” The result?
Why Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Won’t Pay a Dividend in 2014 (DailyFinance)
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) has a number of things going for it if you’re considering an investment in it, but dividend income certainly isn’t one of them. Warren Buffett‘s company doesn’t pay out a single dime to its investors in the form of dividends — and 2014 isn’t likely to change that trend. …Two of Berkshire’s most recent and notable investments — International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) — have two of the highest dividend yields on the list. Berkshire also holds the exclusive $5 billion stake in Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) preferred shares that carry an annual dividend of 6%. If you take those eight investments, plus the Bank of America position, Berkshire rakes in roughly $2 billion each year in the form of dividends from other companies.
Hedge funds: From alternatives to mainstream – Deutsche Bank (InvestmentEurope)
“From Alternatives to Mainstream” analyses how hedge funds have evolved to run non-traditional products such as long-only and liquid alternative strategies to meet new demand from institutional investors. Institutional investors are moving away from traditional asset allocation in favour of a risk-based approach, incorporating hedge funds into their core portfolio rather than as a separate alternatives allocation, Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB)‘s survey also revealed. This removes constraints on allocations to alternatives, and investors are now choosing to work with trusted hedge funds on new products such as liquid alternatives and long only strategies.
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