Hedge Fund News: Nelson Peltz, Bill Ackman, Leda Braga

Former Hedgie Steyer Eyes Senate Run In California (CNBC)
Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge fund manager who became a major environmental activist and political booster, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate, according to multiple reports. Steyer would run for the seat in California vacated by Democrat Barbara Boxer, who announced this week she would not seek re-election in 2016. Others who could run include California Democrats Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor; Kamala Harris, the attorney general, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.”

Calpers’ Ex-Hedge Fund Chief Robertiello Hired by Chatham (Bloomberg)
Ed Robertiello, the former head of California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s absolute return strategies, joined high-yield investment manager Chatham Asset Management after the largest U.S. pension plan opted to exit hedge funds. Robertiello started Jan. 1 as a partner and director of strategic development, the $1.7 billion Chatham, New Jersey-based firm told clients in a letter today. Robertiello left Calpers in December, three months after it decided to divest the $4 billion it had invested in hedge funds.

McGavick Says Hedge Funds Moving Beyond Pat-You-On-Head Approach (Bloomberg)
Investors such as hedge funds and pensions are becoming more sophisticated as they partner with insurers, XL Group Plc (XL) Chief Executive Officer Mike McGavick said. In the past, capital-markets partners would “pat you on the head and they’d say, ‘You just go kinda do some break-even underwriting for us,’” McGavick said today on a conference call with analysts. “As the year went on, it was very clear that the smart players in those alternative capital spaces started saying, ‘You know, actually underwriting matters too.’’

Hedge Fund Salus Alpha’s Flagship Strategy Up 19.5 pct in 2014 (Reuters)
Hedge fund Salus Alpha’s Directional Markets Strategy, a systematic strategy that trades up to 100 global futures and forwards markets, ended 2014 up 19.5 percent, an investor letter seen by Reuters showed. Commodity trading advisers or CTA, a hedge fund strategy betting on long-running trends in markets, were up about 10 percent last year, data from industry tracker Eurekahedge showed.