Hedge Fund News: Paul Singer, Eric Mindich, Jana Partners

Proxy Firm Backs One Elliott Nominee in Alliance Trust Battle (Bloomberg)
A proxy voting company is backing one of three directors that Paul Singer’s Elliott Advisors wants installed on Alliance Trust Plc’s board, the third investor group this week to weigh in on the hedge fund’s battle to shake up the 127-year-old British money manager. Glass, Lewis & Co. advised shareholders to vote in favor of Peter Chambers, the former chief executive officer of Legal & General Investment Management, according to a report sent to clients. The San Francisco-based firm advised investors vote against Elliott’s other nominees — Anthony Brooke and Rory Macnamara — citing “governance issues.”

Paul Singer ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT

Sehr Gut! Investor’s Germany, Japan Bets Pay Off (CNBC)
Eton Park Capital Management‘s international bets are paying off. Investments in European and Asian stocks—including Porsche and options on Japanese equities—helped power Eton’s main hedge fund to a 7.1 percent net-of-fees gain over the first quarter, according to a private letter to investors. Eton Park, which invests around the world using all types of securities as a “multistrategy” hedge fund, runs about $9 billion. The New York-based firm is led by former Goldman Sachs partner Eric Mindich.

Hedge Fund Pressure Unlikely to Block Qualcomm Bond (Reuters)
Hedge fund pressure to break up Qualcomm is not likely to be an obstacle when the world’s largest phone chip-maker comes to market as expected with a jumbo bond to finance a share buyback. Activist hedge fund Jana Partners, which holds 4.4 million shares in Qualcomm, wants it to split its chip-making business from its technology-licensing operation, among other changes. But with A1/A+ ratings, no debt outstanding and some US$32bn of cash on hand, Qualcomm is highly unlikely to take heed – and investors are expected to shrug off Jana’s complaints as well.

After $1 Billion Loss, Senior Citadel Manager Derek Kaufman Steps Down (The New York Times)
A senior manager at the hedge fund Citadel Investment Group has left after losing $1 billion of investors’ money last year. Derek Kaufman, the head of global fixed income and a member of Citadel’s portfolio committee, resigned two weeks ago, according to Katie Spring, a spokeswoman for the firm. His trades are being wound down and liquidated, she added. Mr. Kaufman ran a portfolio for investors that placed bets on currencies, interest rates and sovereign bonds around the world. Those trades included complex and nuanced wagers on the direction of interest rates.

Agnellis Shun Hedge Fund Approach With $6.4 Billion Plan (Bloomberg)
The Agnelli family’s Exor SpA, known for investments in cars and soccer, is dismissing the prevailing reinsurance strategies as it seeks to push into the industry with a $6.4 billion takeover. Exor is shunning the idea that it should take on more risk in PartnerRe Ltd.’s investment portfolio after making an unsolicited buyout offer for the Bermuda-based company. That contrasts with the approach of money managers like David Einhorn, Dan Loeb and John Paulson who moved into reinsurance to gain access to assets that can be invested using their hedge-fund strategies.

Why Hillary Clinton is Going After Hedge Funds (CNN)
Hillary Clinton’s got a problem with hedge fund managers — or at least with the way they’re taxed. The expected frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination is avoiding policy specifics for now, but the taxation of hedge fund managers — an elite class of investors who will no doubt pour millions into Clinton’s second White House bid — has been an early exception. “There’s something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that I saw on I-80 as I was driving here,” Clinton told a small group of roundtable participants in Monticello, Iowa, this week.

Upstart Investor Raids Three From Big Banks (CNBC)
A fast-growing asset management firm has landed three big hires from large banks in recent weeks. Paul Germain, the global head of prime brokerage at Credit Suisse, Tomer Seifan, the head of institutional solutions in the New York office of BNP Paribas, and Guillaume Auvray, an executive specialized in systematic trading and derivatives at Morgan Stanley, are set to join New York-based Stone Ridge Asset Management, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Northwest Hedge Funds Gain as Much as 46% on ‘Trade of the Year’ (Bloomberg)
The “trade of the year” is reaping rewards for investors in Northwest Investment Management (HK)’s hedge funds. Cheaper valuations of Chinese companies’ Hong Kong-quoted class-H shares will persist for at least another three to six months, said George Philips, chief executive officer of the company that oversees about $700 million of assets. That is helping the firm to profit from their discounts to China-listed, yuan-denominated class-A shares, Philips said.