The U.S.-headquartered holding company, Leucadia National, holds several assets in companies from various sectors, from mining to banking. Its executives Ian Cumming and Joseph Steinberg each own about 10% of the company’s common stock.
In general, it’s important to track the activity of skilled hedge funds and other prominent investors, and Leucadia definitely fits the bill.
The second position in the equity portfolio of Cumming/Steinberg is held by Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN). Leucadia owns about 3 million shares, worth $8.5 million. In addition to Leucadia, Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw‘s D E Shaw, as well as another 11 hedge funds disclosed ownership of Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN) as of the end of March. The stock of Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN) has a YTD return of almost 38%.
In Q1, Leucadia National sold off its stake in Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE:JEF), which contained over 58 million shares. With only two positions, the value of the firm’s equity portfolio is $36.7 million.
Disclosure: none