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John Paulson vs Hartford Financial
You’ll have to imagine how it sounded.
But here’s an interesting demonstration of John Paulson at work… stepping onto Hartford Financial’s earnings conference call to lambast the insurer’s performance.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- No, banks shouldn’t be in the tail risk-selling business.
- Hempton on Diamond Foods: “There is seldom only one cockroach…”
- Economic recovery complacency?
- Oil &
Bruising year for commodities hedge funds
The commodities hedge fund industry has suffered its worst year in more than a decade as the sector’s top managers recorded heavy losses amid volatile markets, the FT reports. The average commodity hedge fund fell 1.7 per cent in 2011,
Deutsche Bank targets hedge funds’ problem assets
Deutsche Bank is preparing to launch a fund to snap up investors’ illiquid or damaged holdings in hedge funds that have failed to recover since the financial crisis, the FT reports, citing people familiar with the launch. The fund,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- The high yield ETF is really, really popular.
- The bubble in central banking.
- Why people become investment bankers.
- Is the natural gas rebound sustainable?
- Now this is a jolly.
Einhorn, UK FSA’s high-profile target
David Einhorn’s personal £3.6m ($5.6m) fine from the UK’s FSA for market abuse amounts to the second largest individual penalty for in the regulator’s history, and finally gives it a high-profile scalp,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- The internet Web: French.
- Fed take, I: ’Ever heard of the phrase “data overload?”’
- Fed take, II: was Ben showing his frustration?
- …And why the Fed did not pledge to keep rates low.
Einhorn and Greenlight fined £7.2m
David Einhorn, one of the world’s highest profile hedge fund managers, and his firm, Greenlight Capital, have been fined £7.2m by UK regulators for trading ahead of a 2009 equity fundraising by Punch Taverns,
Hedge bashers
This document had previously passed this correspondent by: DP12/1 - Implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. H/T Sarah Butcher.
Open that, hit control F and type “remuneration.”
Hedgies in flux
The latest annual SEI/Greenwich Associates survey of investors’ perceptions of hedge funds is out.
You find full details in the usual place, but here are the bullet points from the exec summary:
– Institutional allocations are continuing to rise,
Hedge funds fall short of incentive fee level
More than two-thirds of hedge funds are below their high-water marks, the point at which they are able to charge investors performance fees, according to Credit Suisse. The FT says the main source of income for hedge fund managers is their share of investment profits,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Einhorn vs the eurozone foghorns.
- Try as he might, Felix Salmon will never be Davos Deville. OK?
- Horrible pawnbroking story du jour.
- Why the Asian growth miracle might go way way back.
Seven charged over $62m insider trading
Seven hedge fund portfolio managers and analysts have been charged in a $61.8m insider trading scheme as US authorities escalate their crackdown on Wall Street corruption, writes the FT. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested three hedge fund managers in New York,
More clients leave Man Group
Man Group, the world’s biggest publicly-listed hedge fund, continued to lose clients during the last months of 2011, Reuters reports. Investors pulled $2.5bn out of the group in the fourth quarter, following on from a rapid rate of outflows in the three months to September.
Hedgies’ next target: rule 502(c), Regulation D
Hedge fund lobbyists are pushing the SEC to repeal the Depression-era regulation which officially prohibits funds from all general advertising and solicitation, the FT reports. Funds have long complained that rule 502(c) of Regulation D makes it too difficult to find out whether managers are providing enough information for their clients,
Hedge funds lobby against SEC secrecy rule
The FT says fund lobbyists have petitioned the US Securities and Exchange Commission to repeal the rule that lies behind one of the industry’s most notorious traits: its secrecy. The Managed Funds Association,
Swiss bank offers eurozone shorting products
Credit Suisse is offering its hedge fund clients off-the-shelf products that allow traders to replicate hypothetical gains made by betting against European stock indices that include equities covered by eurozone short selling bans,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- Epistemology and bank bonuses (or was it principals?).
- How many US jobs are “structurally impaired”?
- Why we’ll never grow out of safe haven assets.
- You’ve gotta watch out for FATCA…
China gets shorty
In his latest move to support the development of China’s capital markets, Guo Shuqing, the newly installed head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, will oversee the creation of a new body to control facilitate short-selling.
Falcone rejects SEC settlement
Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone has turned down an offer by the SEC to settle charges by accepting a ban from the securities industry, reports the WSJ. His fund, Harbinger Capital Partners, is being investigated for alleged market manipulation.
Regulators may extend comment period for Volcker rule
The comment period for the proposed Volcker rule, that bans banks from proprietary trading, is set to close on January 13th. However, Reuters reports that a 30-day extension is expected, citing a person with knowledge of the decision.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- Hey United Nations, you owe me a $1 trillion.
- What really caused the Eurozone debt crisis.
- John Paulson’s Disadvantage Plus.
- I’ve always kind of enjoyed talking to eurocrats.
Fortress CEO takes leave after being named in suit
Fortress Investment Group’s CEO Daniel Mudd has announced that he is taking a leave of absence from the hedge fund, the WSJ reports. This comes after being named as a defendant in a civil securities-fraud lawsuit brought by the SEC last Friday,
Vega threatens to sue over Greek bond losses
One of the most prominent hedge funds holding Greek bonds has threatened legal action against officials negotiating the country’s debt restructuring if losses are too deep, the FT says. Madrid-based Vega Asset Management,
Hendry’s ‘China short’ fund makes big returns
Shorting the credit of companies positioned to do badly from a Chinese slowdown has proved to be one of the hedge fund industry’s most successful trades of 2011, the FT reports. Hugh Hendry, the outspoken UK hedge fund manager known for his bearish,
Hedge funds braced for worst year since 2008
Hedge fund managers have lost 4.37 per cent on average in the year to the end of November, en route to their worst performance since 2008, according to Hedge Fund Research data, reports the FT. Big-name funds including Paulson &
Shadow banking and the seven collateral miners
In the words of Goldman Doc, Morgan Grumpy, JP Happy, Bank of Sleepy, Barclays Bashful, Sneezy Citi, and Dopey Deutsche:
We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig from early morn till night
We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig up everything in sight
We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Friday,
- “I thought [EU summit] disasters were all meant to happen over the weekend?”
- Making it two lost decades.
- George Soros bought MF Global’s peripheral bonds.
- FM Global’s PR has something to say.
Paulson down further in November
John Paulson’s flagship fund lost 3.6 per cent in November, taking losses for the leveraged Advantage Plus fund to 46 per cent in 2011, Bloomberg says. Gold-denominated shares in the fund have fallen 29 per cent in 2011,
Paulson fund losses continue to grow
John Paulson’s hedge fund has lost 46 percent in 2011 through November in one of his largest hedge funds, says Bloomberg. Paulson’s Advantage Plus Fund, which seeks to profit from corporate events such as takeovers and bankruptcies and uses leverage to amplify returns,