Hedge Fund Titan Warren Lichtenstein Shacks Up with Bethenny Frankel (StreetInsider)
Low-key hedge fund honcho Warren Lichtenstein is making the gossip mags Wednesday on headlines reality star Bethenny Frankel moved into his Upper East Side apartment building. Frankel was recently split from husband Jason Hoppy and moved out of their Tribeca condo. Frankel and Lichtenstein are reportedly long-time friends, but today’s news has the blogs thinking something more serious is going on between the two.
Neuberger Berman Fund Adds Halcyon Stake (Finalternatives)
Neuberger Berman Group’s private equity fund of hedge funds had a feverish December, tripling the number of hedge fund managers in its portfolio during the month. Dyal Capital Partners’ buying spree, which coincided with its closing at $1.28 billion, concluded on Dec. 21 with the purchase of a minority stake in Halcyon Asset Management, Hedge Fund Alert reports. New York-based Halcyon is one of the oldest hedge funds around, founded in 1981, and manages $12 billion; the firm had planned to go public several years ago but shelved those plans in the face of the financial crisis.
The Great Baupost Madoff Claim Trade That Made A Big Madoff Feeder Fund A Loser Again (Forbes)
In the summer of 2010, James Mooney, a partner at Baupost Group, the massive $24 billion Boston hedge fund run by investment legend Seth Klarman, sensed there was money to be made acquiring customer claims of Bernard Madoff’s bogus investment firm. Mooney believed the Madoff claims represented a classic distressed debt situation, where “sophisticated participants in the market” who were “aided by their advisors, such as legal counsel,” could better understand the complex dynamics at play, according to a court-filed declaration Mooney made last year.
Hungary Blames Roubini ‘Attack’ for Forint Plunging to Low (MoneyNews)
Hungary’s Economy Ministry blamed Nouriel Roubini for the forint’s weakening to a seven-month low against the euro, saying Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy’s comments on the currency didn’t cause the depreciation. The ministry cited a recommendation last week by Roubini, co-founder of Roubini Global Economics LLC, to sell the forint in the absence of an International Monetary Fund backstop, according to an e-mailed statement.
Shropshire County Pension Fund looking for hedge fund-of-funds managers (PIOnline)
Shropshire County Pension Fund, Shrewsbury, England, issued an RFI for at least one manager to run a hedge fund-of-funds portfolio estimated at about £55 million ($88 million), according to a pension fund executive at the £1.1 billion pension fund. Funding will come from terminating an existing manager, though the pension official declined to name the manager. According to the pension fund’s latest annual report for the year ended March 31, Man Group managed a £55 million hedge fund-of-funds strategy and BlackRock (BLK) managed a £35 million hedge fund-of-funds portfolio. Shropshire’s pensions committee had raised concerns about Man Group’s performance and management changes, according to the minutes of the committee’s meeting on Nov. 23. Efforts to reach Man Group were unsuccessful.
