Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)
Is stopping Keystone a San Francisco hedge-fund billionaire’s shrewd investment? (WashingtonExaminer)
Tom Steyer, San Francisco hedge-fund billionaire and million-dollar donor to Democratic candidates — including President Obama — is something of a one-man Big Green with greater wealth and deeper contacts than many activist non-profit foundations. He’s waging a dogged end-of-the-world money war against fossil fuels and is currently cramming mega-bucks into a costly fight against the Keystone XL pipeline as a “game-over” environmental doomsday. Winning his fierce battle, however, won’t do a thing about global warming, say climate researchers. Ken Caldeira, climate researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, Calif., told Nature Magazine in August: “I don’t believe that whether the pipeline is built or not will have any detectable climate effect.”
Carl Icahn Increases Stake in Nuance, May Seek Seat on Board (BusinessWeek)
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn boosted his stake in Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) and may seek to put a representative on the board of the speech-recognition software maker. Funds controlled by Icahn, including Icahn Partners LP and Icahn Onshore LP, reported a combined 16.9 percent stake in Nuance, up from 16.4 percent, according to a filing (NUAN:US) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. Icahn uses holdings to seek change in companies he deems undervalued or ill-managed. When Icahn fist took a stake in Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), the investment was seen as a move to push the company to sell itself or shed some businesses.
Herbalife billionaire brawl puts spotlight on N.J. professor (Reuters)
In the battle of investors who’ve made opposite bets on the shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), both sides – including firms led by billionaires Bill Ackman and George Soros – have consulted a New Jersey college professor and studied his research. For decades, William Keep, dean of the School of Business at the College of New Jersey, has pursued a relatively obscure marketing specialty known as multilevel marketing businesses, or MLMs. But as a new go-to adviser for some of Wall Street’s biggest players, Keep has been suddenly thrust into the spotlight. In December, Ackman placed a $1 billion short bet against Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), citing the professor’s research…
Hedge fund managers worth watching (Opalesque)
It is always interesting to see what hedge fund managers are doing with their portfolios. Hedge funds are lightly regulated which means managers are much less constrained by rules that apply to mutual fund managers. They can invest in almost any situation where they see an opportunity to achieve positive returns. Overall, most managers are focused on three broad themes: the implications of the Fed’s possible tapering of bond purchases and eventual normalization of interest rates, the scaling back of international exposure given short-term volatility in countries such as China and their general optimism about the equity markets.
Hedge Fund That Lost 96% Survived Long Enough To Breach Contracts, Lose Subsequent Legal Battle (DealBreaker)
That Ebullio Capital Management’s Commodity Master Fund would be liquidated is not a surprise: Most hedge funds that lose 96% in two months meet such a fate. What is a surprise is that said fund is liquidating three-and-a-half years after those losses, and only because (a) it was still able to find counterparties with which to enter into contracts that it could breach or reach oral agreements to roll, depending on whose story you believe, and (b) because a Cayman Islands judge has ordered it be so.* Unfortunately for the ECMF’s remaining (and, it must be said, very patient) investors, this means that their losses are about to be extended to 99.8% or so.
Preqin: Expensive hedge fund managers perform better (PIOnline)
Hedge fund managers who charge performance fees greater than 20% produce better net returns over longer periods than those who charge 20% or less, according to new data from research house Preqin. For periods ended July 31, the most expensive hedge funds with incentive fees over 20% returned a net 7.79% year-to-date; one year, 13.29%; three years, 10.73%; and five years, 10.55%. By contrast, for the same time period, hedge funds with a 20% performance fee returned a net 4.1% year-to-date; one year, 8.69%; three years, 7.98%; and five years, 8.34%. Finally, funds with fees under 20% returned 6.35% year-to-date; one year, 13.32%; three years, 6.89%; and five years, 7.31%. Preqin’s multiyear returns are annualized.
Mad Money, August 29, 2013 (CNBC)
Timothy Geithner To Speak At Asia Hedge Fund Event (HedgeCo)
Hedge fund giant SkyBridge Capital is hosting the second annual SkyBridge Alternatives “SALT” Asia Conference. Timothy Geithner , 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury, will be speaking at the event along with other hedge fund luminaries. The conference will take place at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore September 24-27, 2013. Other featured speakers for the invitation-only event include: Jean-Claude Trichet , Former President of the ECB (2003 -2011) & Former Governor Banque de France (1993-2003; John Lipsky , Former First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (2006-2011); Jin Liqun, Former Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, China Investment Corporation (CIC); Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Finance,Singapore; and Nassim Taleb , New York Times Bestselling Author, “The Black Swan” and Distinguished Scientific Advisor, Universa Investments.
Large Hedge Funds Kick Algo Tires, Tabb Says (TradersMagazine)
The largest hedge funds overwhelmingly press their brokers for information about the way their trading algorithms work. According to a recent survey by Tabb Group, 79 percent of large hedge funds query their brokers about their algos. Of the smaller hedge funds, only half bother to ask. Tabb considers a hedge fund large if it trades over one million shares per day. “Given the myriad idiosyncrasies from one broker’s algo to the next, the task of understanding the core logic and capabilities of a given algo has never been more challenging,” state authors Adam Sussman and Colby Jenkins in their report, “U.S. Hedge Fund Equity Trading 2013.”
What George Soros must be thinking about the rupee (FirstPost)
George Soros likes to believe that he has managed to make all the money that he has, by following what he calls the theory of reflexivity. Not everyone believes this though. His son Robert, offers another explanation for his success in Michael Kaufman’s Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire. As Robert puts it “My father will sit down and give you theories to explain why he does this or that. But I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking, Jesus Christ, at least half of this is bullshit, I mean, you know the reason he changes his position in the market or whatever is because his back starts killing him. It has nothing to do with reason. He literally goes into a spasm, and it’s his early warning sign.”
Jim Rogers expects higher gold prices, and Marc Faber does too! (MarketWatch)
It’s not a surprise to hear that billionaire investor Jim Rogers, who’s usually bullish on commodities, expects higher prices for gold, but The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report’s Marc Faber said he does too. In a video interview with Reuters’ Tara Joseph posted Wednesday, Jim Rogers, investor and chief executive officer of Rogers Holdings said: “I own oil, I own gold, I own things like that if there is going to be a war … they’re [going to] go much, much higher.” “Stocks are [going to] go down … commodities are [going to] go up,” he said. Marc Faber, also known as “Doctor Doom,” told HardAssetsInvestor in an interview published Wednesday that “looking at how debt will continue to increase and how central banks will continue their monetization not only in the U.S. but on a worldwide scale, I assume the price of gold will trend higher.”
SAC Capital Civil Suit Should Be Delayed, U.S. Asks Judge (Bloomberg)
A civil forfeiture lawsuit against SAC Capital Advisors LP should be put on hold while prosecutors continue their criminal case against the hedge fund over alleged insider trading, the U.S. told a federal judge in Manhattan. “Civil discovery would adversely affect the ability of the government to conduct the prosecution of a related criminal case,” prosecutors said in the filing today. The hedge fund, which held as much as $14 billion in July, was founded by Steven A. Cohen, who is worth about $9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Harbinger Plans $100 Million Insurance-Unit IPO (WSJ)
Less than 10 days after agreeing to pay $18 million in a civil settlement with securities regulators, investment firm Harbinger Capital Partners LLC is planning a $100 million initial public offering for one of its insurance units. Fidelity & Guaranty Life intends to sell shares in order to fund its expansion and a dividend payment to its owner, the conglomerate Harbinger Group Inc., according to a regulatory filing. Harbinger Capital, run by investor Philip Falcone, and its affiliates are majority owners of Harbinger Group, according to the filing. Harbinger Group acquired Fidelity & Guaranty in 2011.
Jeff Gundlach Takes A Subtle Swipe At Bill Ackman On CNBC (BusinessInsider)
Bond god Jeffrey Gundlach said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” with Scott Wapner that he wouldn’t announce any short positions because it invites your rivals to bet against you. “I’ve learned from watching CNBC that announcing your shorts isn’t the best idea because it sometimes invites competition,” Gundlach, who runs DoubleLine Capital, said. It’s pretty clear that he’s talking about Pershing Square Capital Management’s founder Bill Ackman here.
