Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP)
Klarman’s Baupost Sells News Corp., Adds to BP, AIG Stake (Bloomberg)
Buffett Loves International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), The Coca-Cola Company (KO), and The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) (Insider Monkey)
Warren Buffett always said that the minimum holding period for a stock should be “forever.” He looks for companies that do not trade much above their book value and keeps them as long as they keep delivering value. Three stocks that made the grade, and remain part of Buffett’s widely diversified portfolio today, are The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG).
Hedge Fund Proposes Revamped Hess Board (Wall Street Journal)
In yet another twist in its convoluted proxy battle with Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Elliott Management Corp. on Tuesday proposed refashioning the company’s board to include both its slate of five board nominees and their Hess-backed rivals. The move by the dissident hedge fund, which owns about 4.5% of Hess’s shares, came a day after the international oil company extended an olive branch, proposing to add two of Elliott’s nominees to the board if all five of management’s nominees were elected at a coming shareholder meeting Thursday. Elliott called Hess’s latest move a publicity stunt, but said it was open to dialogue.
Loeb Takes Activism Abroad With Sony Stake in Japan Wager (Bloomberg)
Dan Loeb, the hedge-fund manager who successfully pushed for an executive shakeup at Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), is taking his activism overseas for the first time with a $1.1 billion stake in Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), seeking change in a country where few U.S. investors have succeeded with that approach. Loeb, whose event-driven fund has returned an annual average of 18 percent since he started his firm out of another manager’s weight room almost two decades ago, chose Sony as part of a wager that Japan’s stocks will gain as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe uses stimulus spending and aggressive monetary easing to spur growth.
Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Bought News Corp (NWSA), Sold Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) During Q1 (Insider Monkey)
Stanley Druckenmiller pulled double duty for over a decade, managing a portfolio for George Soros and running Duquesne Capital. His success as an investor has resulted in a net worth of nearly $3 billion. He has retired as a fund manager but still manages his personal wealth in a family office, and is required to file quarterly 13Fs with the SEC.
Credit: News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA)
Hedge funds target mutual fund market (Financial Times)
The next source of growth for the hedge fund industry are the widows and orphans of the mutual fund market, according to Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), which predicts that retail assets will more than triple to $940bn during the next four years, from $305bn at the end of 2012. The trend is a convergence of two themes: traditional asset managers looking for…
…high-margin products as a response to competition from cheap exchange-traded funds; and hedge funds looking for a new source of capital. Mutual fund groups have moved into the business by purchasing fund of hedge fund groups. Last year Franklin Templeton took a majority stake in K2, while Legg Mason added Fauchier Partners to its existing Permal subsidiary.
Clive Hedge Fund Pays Partner $34 Million After Losing Year (Bloomberg)
Clive Capital LLP paid its top-earning partner $33.5 million in the 12 months through February as the commodity hedge-fund firm managed by Chris Levett posted losses for clients for a second straight year. The company’s three partners Levett, 43, Richard Boland and Elizabeth Holstein, received a total $39.2 million, Clive said in a filing to the U.K.’s Companies House. The fund, which awarded its highest-paid member $60.8 million in the previous year, didn’t identify details of the compensations.
Hedge-fund tycoon blows £850,000 during high-stakes poker game (The Sun)
A hedge-fund tycoon reportedly blew £850,000 during Europe’s biggest cash poker game. Banker Talal Shakerchi joined five other fat cats who each staked 500,000 euros (£424,112) for an unofficial game at the European Poker Tour in Monaco last weekend. The 49-year-old, who is worth an estimated £100million, has won more than £1million in past tournaments. But luck was not on his side last Saturday when he lost the eye-watering amount during the high-stakes game.
Ron Mock ascends to the top of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Globe and Mail)
Ron Mock has completed his rise from the ashes of collapsed hedge fund firm Phoenix Research and Trading Corp., putting a controversial failure behind him to become the new chief executive officer of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Mr. Mock, 60, was named Tuesday as the successor to Teachers CEO Jim Leech, who is retiring at the end of the year. Mr. Mock is currently Teachers’ senior vice-president of fixed income and hedge funds, heading the largest of the pension plan’s six major asset management groups.
Stocks little changed amid optimistic remarks by N.J. hedge fund manager Tepper (The Star-Ledger – NJ.com)
U.S. stocks were little changed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index set records in seven of the past eight sessions, as bullish comments from hedge-fund manager David Tepper offset concern China’s growth is slowing. The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 1,635.34 at 9:31 a.m. in New York. “While economic growth today is generally lackluster, there do not appear to be any systemic risks like before, with the exception of the inevitable unwinding of quantitative easing,” Dan Morris, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management in London, wrote in a note. His firm oversees about $1.5 trillion globally. “Liquidity will continue to support markets, though there will be a price to pay for it in the future.”
Barclay Hedge Fund Index gains 0.75% in April (+4.96% YTD); Pacific Rim equities up 13.50% in 2013 (Opalesque)
Hedge funds gained 0.75% in April, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 4.96% year to date. “Equity markets rose again in April on indications of continued easing early in the month and positive earnings reports later in the month,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. Overall, 15 of Barclay’s 18 hedge fund strategies had positive returns in April. The Barclay Pacific Rim Equities Index continued its strong performance, adding 4.39%. Pacific Rim Equities now have eight straight months of gains, and are up 13.50% in the first four months of 2013.
