Hedge Fund News: Michael Karsch, Paul Singer, Bill Ackman

Two Executives Leave Fortress After Losses in Macro Fund (Reuters)
Two executives at hedge fund Fortress Investment Group are leaving the firm after its macro fund suffered heavy losses in the wake of the recent currency market upheaval, three sources familiar with the moves said. Chief Risk Officer Sherif Sweillam and portfolio manager Tye Schlegelmilch resigned this month, the sources said. Neither Sweillam nor Schlegelmilch could be reached at Fortress on Wednesday.

Hedge Fund Profits Drop 30% In 2014 (CNBC)
The hedge fund industry’s profits fell by 30 percent to $21.9 billion in 2014 from $31.2 billion a year ago as poor returns led to lower performance fees, Citigroup said in a report on Thursday. The drop means a significantly reduced bonus pool of $9.2 billion for the fund managers and analysts running the nearly $3 trillion industry in 2014, as compared with $23.1 billion in 2013, and an increased pressure on smaller hedge fund firms as they rely more on a fixed management fee for survival.

Stock Picking, Large-Cap Rally Boosts Top Japan Hedge Funds (Bloomberg)
Pickers of small company shares and money managers who anticipated a year-end rally in large-capitalization stocks were the best performers among Japan-focused hedge funds last year. Hayate Partners Pte’s Japan Equity Long Short Fund returned 19.4 percent in 2014, boosted by its holding in F&M Co., a small provider of book-keeping services whose shares surged 83 percent. The Monterey Japan Equity Fund gained 19.8 percent from shorting smaller-cap shares that dropped toward the end of the year and benefited from central bank monetary easings that lifted stocks of food and pharmaceutical companies.

Venezuelan Hedge Fund Manager To Learn Sentence For Massive Connecticut Fraud Scheme (Fox News)
Nearly four years after he confessed to running a massive fraud scheme, a former hedge fund manager is expected to be sentenced in a Connecticut case that had its biggest fallout in Venezuela, where the state oil company had hundreds of millions of dollars invested with the disgraced financier. Francisco Illarramendi pleaded guilty in March 2011 to several counts of fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.