Hedge Fund News: Leon Cooperman, Crispin Odey, Herbalife Ltd. (HLF)

Hedge-fund liquidator suing BNY Mellon firm (Independent)
The liquidator of a bust Cayman Islands hedge fund is suing an Irish firm owned by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) for millions. Dublin-based BNY Mellon Investment Servicing International is being sued by Grant Thornton in its capacity as liquidator of Weavering Capital, a €450m-valued hedge fund that collapsed in 2009. The Sunday Independent understands that the amount of damages being claimed by the liquidator on behalf of out-of-pocket Weavering investors is €200m at the low end but could be up to €500m if certain facts are proven.

Bad time to end ban on hedge fund ads (FT)
Investors twitching nervously last week over Washington’s tryst with fiscal havoc may have felt better after the last-minute deal to stave off tax rises and budget cuts, giving a frayed US economy more time to mend. They may be in no mood for a less dramatic but possibly ugly trauma looming ahead. Last week’s fix stopped politicians from weakening a frail recovery, but many market watchers still expect a hard path to strong investment returns in 2013, especially after a year in which big stock indices finally caught up to pre-2008 peaks. It could not be a worse time for US regulators to follow through on an April 2012 law that directs them to lift a longstanding ban on “general advertising” and “general solicitation” for traditional limited partnership hedge funds and other private placement vehicles.

Investors keep faith in hedge funds (FT)
Big investors are sticking to their hedge fund portfolio allocations, despite the lacklustre performance of some strategies in 2012. New data on hedge fund returns to be unveiled on Tuesday by Hedge Fund Research, a fund tracking group, suggest the average hedge fund manager eked out a 5.5 per cent return last year. This performance barely corrects the sector’s dismal performance in 2011, when the average hedge fund lost 5 per cent.

Weavering Founder Appears in Court Over Hedge Funds Collapse (BusinessWeek)
Weavering Capital (UK) Ltd. founding director Magnus Peterson appeared in a London court today facing six charges of fraud, forgery, fraudulent trading and false accounting over the collapse of the hedge fund in 2009. Judge Michael Snow ordered Peterson, 49, to appear at a higher criminal court in 12 weeks and surrender his passport. The defunct fund had about $640 million under management in late 2008 before discovering the counterparty for its biggest trading position was controlled by the fund’s manager.