Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Bloomberg – Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest producer of the crop nutrient, were added to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s list of the most popular stocks among hedge fund managers.
The addition of the companies to the so-called VIP list, which includes the 50 stocks that are the most common holdings in hedge fund portfolios, is a sign of “strong interest in non- U.S. markets by U.S.-based hedge funds,” strategist David Kostin wrote in note to clients.
The VIP has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index during the past 12 months, falling 6 percent as the S&P 500 lost 9.2 percent. It is the first time Petrobras, as the Brazil company is known, or Potash Corp. appeared in the index.
Petrobras’ American depositary receipts rose to an all-time high in May, spurred by record oil prices and investor interest in the offshore Tupi oil field, which the company said in November may hold 8 billion barrels of crude.
Hedge funds reduced their bets in the past year that U.S. stocks would gain as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined and credit conditions tightened, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
Such wagers accounted for 32 percent of funds’ equity investments as of June 30, compared with 45 percent a year earlier, analysts led by David Kostin said in an Aug. 21 report.
Hedge funds cut their holdings in financial, consumer and industrial companies, while investments in utilities, telecom services and materials were little changed in the period, Goldman said. Bets that financial stocks would fall accounted for 24 percent of holdings at the end of June; the previous year, 32 percent of funds’ portfolios wagered that financials would rise, the bank said.
Goldman analyzed quarterly filings of 745 hedge funds with combined equity holdings valued at $881 billion. The filings exclude trades using options and futures contracts as well as indexes that may offset funds’ equity holdings. The filings also exclude holdings of companies not based in the U.S.
Reuters HK- SAIL Advisors Ltd, one of Asia’s largest homegrown fund of hedge fund managers, said on Wednesday it hired former Goldman Sachs Group Inc managing director Vincent Duhamel as its new chief executive.
Hong Kong-based Duhamel will replace Eliza Lau, who previously served as both chief executive and chief investment officer. SAIL said Lau would remain as CIO and continue to oversee its portfolios. The Hong Kong-based firm had about $2.5 billion in assets under management as of the end of June.
Duhamel, who will start as CEO on September 17, was with Goldman in Asia from 2005 until earlier this year.
The Canadian executive initially ran its asset management business in the region, before the role was taken over by Oliver Bolitho. He moved on to help lead the unit’s sovereign wealth fund and central bank strategy.
Boston Globe- Dozens of hedge funds and broker-dealers are scrambling to send reams of e-mails and trading records to regulators probing suspected stock price manipulation, several sources at hedge funds said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently sent subpoenas to more than 50 firms concerning trading in investment banks Bear Stearns, which was rescued in March, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., whose shares have been hurt badly by rumors about its financial health, said four sources, who have seen the documents but were not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Among those receiving subpoenas were investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and prominent hedge fund firms SAC Capital Advisors LLC and Citadel Investment Group.
Globe and Mail- Friday, the Ontario government put out a release announcing that the government is "thrilled’ to welcome to Toronto a new arm of Goldman Sachs Administration Services, the part of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that helps hedge funds with back offices. But from Goldman, aside from a quote in the release, there wasn’t much more info on what fund managers can expect.
A new week brings a little more detail: The office will be a small addition to a roughly 160-person division of GS that will provide such services as portfolio analytics and accounting. The division already has offices in the Cayman Islands, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jersey City and Princeton, N.J., and the word is Goldman wanted to add capacity and liked Toronto’s skilled work force.
CNN Money- A listed fund of hedge funds operated by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has lifted its assets by about 25% by raising an additional $ 221.3 million on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities Ltd. (GSDO.LN), which invests in 20 hedge funds run by managers including New York’s Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC and London’s The Children’s Investment Fund Management (UK) LLP, now manages about $840.2 million, making it the second-largest fund of hedge funds trading in London.
Investors have been scooping up shares in listed funds of hedge funds as a way to diversify from traditional stocks and try to preserve capital in turbulent markets. Funds of hedge funds have historically posted flat returns in years when stock markets suffered sharp declines.
Reuters- Bear Stearns Cos plans to turn over documents to securities regulators showing that financial giants like Goldman Sachs Group, Citadel Investment Group and Paulson & Co cut their exposure to the securities firm before its collapse, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as part of an inquiry into events surrounding the implosion of Bear Stearns in March, has sought and will examine these trading records, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
The SEC is expected to use the data to determine whether any trading activity was improperly coordinated, constituted manipulation or otherwise contributed to Bear Stearns’ collapse, the report said.
