Hedge Fund News: John Paulson, Steven Cohen, Dell Inc. (DELL)

Editors’s Note: Related Tickers: Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)

Hedge Fund Gold Wagers Defy Worst Slump in 33 Years: Commodities (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds increased bets on gold rallying after prices plunged the most in 33 years, underscoring billionaire John Paulson’s view that bullion will rebound. Fund managers and other speculators increased net-long positions in gold by 9.8 percent to 61,579 futures and options in the week ended April 16, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Investors turned bullish on silver for the first time in three weeks. Wagers on higher prices across 18 U.S.-traded raw materials climbed 5.1 percent to 453,467 contracts, the first gain in three weeks. A two-day, 13 percent drop in gold through April 16 drove prices to a two-year low, erasing $560 billion from the value of central-bank reserves since the metal peaked in 2011.

Rich List fund manager enjoys £20m payday (The Sunday Times)
One of the City stars of this year’s Sunday Times Rich List has added another £20m to his fortune after a stunning year’s share-trading. Andy Brown, 57, a former Morgan Stanley fund manager, paid himself the dividend from Cedar Rock Capital, his investment firm. It was revealed in the accounts last week. Unlike a hedge fund, which bets on rises and falls in a wide variety of shares and financial instruments, Cedar Rock invests in a small selection of companies and tends to hold the shares for several years.

Apollo-to-Goldman Embracing Insurers Spurs State Concerns (Bloomberg)
Until April 2011, Patrick “Pete” Dodd, a former money manager at Liberty Life Insurance Co. in Greenville, South Carolina, invested customer premiums in what he calls a “squeaky clean” portfolio: bonds backed by state governments and blue chip corporations. Then a company funded by private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO) acquired Liberty and inherited its clientele, mostly people approaching retirement who had bought annuities from the company to supplement their Social Security. Now the unit’s holdings include securities backed by subprime mortgages, time-share vacation homes and a railroad in Kazakhstan.

Hedge Funds Post Disparate Early-April Returns (FINalternatives)
Hedge funds were essentially flat in the first half of April, with widely dispersed returns among strategies. The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell 0.09% through Tuesday, Hedge Fund Research said. The benchmark is up 3.04% on the year. Convertible arbitrage funds turned in the best average return in early April, rising 1.44% (5.18% year-to-date).

Blackstone Ends Dell Pursuit (FINalternatives)
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) has dropped out of the bidding for Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), leaving Carl Icahn as the only potential alternative to a buyout led by Dell founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Blackstone has spent a month trying to cobble together a competing offer for the computer-maker while looking at its books. But the private-equity giant did not like what it saw, telling the special committee of Dell’s board handling the sale negotiations that it was spooked by falling personal-computer sales and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s own declining operating income.

Union Bancaire Privée and Guggenheim Fund Solutions Power an Advanced Hedge Fund Platform That Meets the Requirements of Global Investors (Financial Post)
Following the acquisition and integration of Nexar, Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA has launched an alternatives division that offers clients broad alternative investment expertise, as well as innovative solutions. As part of this strategy, it has selected Guggenheim Fund Solutions (GFS) as its partner to provide clients with…