Hedge Crunch FinancialRising Star in Hedge Fund Galaxy Just 28 Years Old
At a time when many hedge fund firms are closing shop, it is noteworthy when a new one enters the marketplace. It is even more eye-catching when the founder is a mere 28 years old. Harvard Business graduate Jamie Sterne launched Skye Global Management with $75 million back in July, after doing a two-year stint at Dan Loeb’s Third Point as an equity analyst.
Sterne was previously employed by Greenmantle as a macroeconomic analyst, and at BeaconLight Capital as a long-short equity analyst.
In addition to his MBA, Sterne also has a degree in history from Harvard which he earned in 2010. His first job was at Maverick Capital of Lee Ainslie.
Most hedge funds are launched by managers with much more experience who are at least in their late 30s or early 40s. One other exception however is David Einhorn, who started his Greenlight Capital when he was only 27.
Funds in Singapore and Australia Outperform Asian Rivals
The Singapore Merlion at the Bay. Photo courtesy of Erwin Soo.
Funds based in Singapore are showing better results than their Asian-based counterparts, according to data collected by Eurekahedge Pte. The reason is that Singapore puts more focus on India and global markets, while Hong Kong and Japanese based funds lean more towards Chinese and/or Japanese securities.
During the first seven months of 2016 funds headquartered in Singapore rose by 2 percent. Hong Kong based funds shrunk by an average of 2.3 percent. Australia-headquartered funds also rose, by 1.9 percent, but those based in Japan declined by 2.5 percent.
Comparing the indices of India with those of China also show the reason for the discrepancy. India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index grew by 9.4 percent so far this year, while China’s CSI 300 Index lost 13 percent, and Japan’s Topix declined by 15 percent.
“Singapore has the most diversified hedge fund industry in Asia with regard to managers’ strategic and regional mandates,” said Mohammad Hassan, head of hedge fund research at Eurekahedge. “Diversification has helped the domestic industry post the best overall gains in Asia, while China and Japan equity-focused centers such as Hong Kong and Japan are in the red.”
Chanos Shorting Tesla as Musk Attempts to Buy SolarCity
Elon Musk at the 2015 Tesla Motors Annual Meeting. Photo by Steve Jurvetson
The hedge fund manager who became famous for predicting the fall of Enron and then cashing in on his prediction, Jim Chanos, is now forseeing that Elon Musk’s Tesla is poised for a similar fall.
Chanos explained his position at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference held on Tuesday. Placing his short bet on Tesla, the Kynikos Associates hedge fund manager, reiterated his opinion expressed in June that Musk’s plan to acquire SolarCity is a “shameful example of corporate governance at its worst.”
Only now Chanos is even more convinced of Tesla’s inescapable fall since Musk released new information about his planned purchase. That information helped him realize “just how crazy this merger is and the damage it’s going to do to shareholders.”
Chanos’ basic argument is that both Tesla and SolarCity are in desperate need of capital. Both companies are dealing with a serious cash shortage, and both have announced that they are looking to raise additional funds this coming year. Together the companies are spending about $1 billion every quarter, and will therefore need constant access to capital markets.
“And when you need that amount of money just to run your business model, you put yourself at risk,” Chanos proclaimed.
And Another Fund Bites the Dust
As investors pull their money after experiencing heavy losses, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. has decided to throw in the towel and liquidate its Japan-focused hedge fund. Add this fund to the many others who have closed shop and we see the largest exit of investment from the industry since 2009.
The firm decided to shut down its Sumi Turst Japan L-S I Alpha when only $10 million in managed assets remained in the kitty. The fund was started in 2007 and reached its highest value in 2012 with $100 million in assets. The last two years hurt the fund with annual losses.
This latest shut-down is in keeping with the general trend of investors getting out as these investments perform poorly in volatile markets. Worldwide the industry lost $25.2 billion just in July, the largest defection since February 2009. Asian hedge funds are in the same boat, with investors withdrawing a net $7 billion since the beginning of 2016 up until July. Regional assets invested in hedge funds come to about $55.3 billion.
Hedge funds invested in Japan lost on average 3.6 percent from January until August, comparing unfavorably with the 1 percent gain by funds invested elsewhere in Asia.
With such poor results it is not surprising that many firms have closed down funds. In a letter to investors JPMorgan Chase & Co wrote that it is closing down the JPMorgan Funds-Japan Market Neutral Fund. The fund, which launched in June 2011, decided to return investor money when assets shrunk to about $17 million on August 4. That low number was reached after “significant redemptions” wreaked havoc on the fund.
Hedge Fund Money Says No to Trump
Anthony Scaramucci gestures during the World Economic Forum 2014. Photo by Urs Jaudas/World Economic Forum
Hedge funds do not seem to be supporting Trump in anything like the ways it was predicted it would. Filings made with the Federal Election Commission for donations made in July show that the Donald Trump campaign raised a little bit over $2 million from hedge fund industry members, and most of that coming from just one source: co-head of Renaissance Technologies Robert Mercer.
Executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, Sheila Krumholz, said that although the totals for July appear anemic, the trend for Trump is still positive.
“We can see that it has gone from a pittance — a mere thousands of dollars — to millions, but it’s impossible for us to say at this point what the final figure is for July,” said Krumholz. “It’s possible we’ll see, if not a sea change, then a big leap forward for Trump.”
The sums are especially disappointing in light of Anthony Scaramucci’s claim that about 20 percent of the approximately $70 million the Trump campaign raised in July was from hedge funds. According to Sacaramucci’s equation that would mean hedge funds had contributed a juicy $14 million, which seems to be not even close.
Tudor Laying Off Staff in Response to Poor Returns
Paul Tudor Jones, manager of Tudor Investment, fired about 60 of his employees, or 15 percent of his workers. Poor returns and investor redemptions are said to have been behind the move.
Tudor manages about $11 billion for high net-worth investors, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds. It is also one of the oldest hedge fund firms still in business.
The company’s flagship fund, Tudor BVI Global makes bets on international trends such as currencies and interest rates, has grown by 18 percent on average per year since its inception in 1986. This year is not one of its better years, however, with a down turn of about 2.5 percent as of late July.
The company’s other funds are all losing money this year, after making a profit last year, a year when the average hedge fund was in the red.
Several global macro funds are also losing money this year, and the average hedge fund this year has grown by a meager 3 percent. Layoffs are becoming a common site in the hedge fund industry as investors are demanding fee cuts and even their money back as they see poor returns on their investments. This summer Pershing Square Capital Management, another hedge fund giant, laid off about 10 percent of its workforce.
California’s Agile Fund Adds Hedge Fund Experts to Managing Team
Agile Fund Solutions, a money management firm based in California, announced that Greg Gleeson and Andrea Schweikert will be joining the company as hedge fund specialists.
Vincent Calcagno, CEO of Agile, explained the move to hire hedge fund specialists:
“Southern California presents a major opportunity for Agile. Greg is a veteran player in the SoCal market and has overseen hedge funds and family offices across all size scales.”
Concerning Schweikert, Calcagno added: “Coupled with Andi’s experience serving hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds while at Rothstein Kass it gives Agile the ability to deliver on our mission of enabling managers to scale their business by having them focus on the portfolio while we focus on everything else.”
Gleeson had this to say about his new employment:
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Agile team. Agile’s “best-in-class” outsourcing model allows portfolio managers to utilize us for the aspects of their business we’re best at, allowing them to focus on making money for their investors, which is what they are best at. For many strategies and firms outsourcing is the future. This is evident from Agile’s rapid growth and I’m thankful that I have the ability to be a part of the evolution Agile is leading for our industry.”
“As Greg alluded to, the hedge fund managers I’m working with are really excited about Agile’s forward-thinking approach towards the traditional finance, operations and compliance functions,” Schweikart added. “I couldn’t be happier to be able to be a part of this dynamic team that operates in such a supportive family culture.”
Agile’s founder Nick Castoria added:
“To think that a year ago we had 11 team members and now we stand at 22 is both humbling and exhilarating all at the same time. I couldn’t be more excited about where Agile, our managers and the team are heading.”
Against the Grain: New Hedge Funds Starting, Despite the Risks
Running a hedge fund is not easy, especially these days when one after another fund seems to be shutting down. Yet, there are still die-hard managers that want to take the risk of opening up their own fund in the hopes of success.
Attracting new money isn’t easy for anyone in today’s financial climate. For new, unknown funds without a history of success to point to, it can be almost impossible. New funds with new managers often highlight their past experience with big names in the hedge fund world. Lets take a look at some new managers who are branching out on their own, and what they have to offer their prospective investors.
• Margate Capital with Samantha Greenberg. Greenberg is a former employee of Paulson & Co., and one of the most senior women in this heavily male-weighted profession. Margate will be a long/short equity fund, and with the help of her newly hired partner Jared Weisfeld from Balyasny Asset Management, she hope to begin her new fund with $500 million later this year.
• Ravi Chopra will be starting Azora Capital. Until this past April Chopra worked at Samlyn Capital, and before that Sigma Capital, a SAC Capital subsidiary. Azora will focus on financial stocks with his New York-based fun which will make long and short bets.
• Black and White Capital will be run by Seth Wunder, the founder of the $1.4 billion Contour Asset Management. His new fund, Black and White, will be headquartered in Los Angeles. Not much else is known about the new fund, but Contour was focused on stocks representing the technology, media and telecom sectors.
Competition Forcing Hedge Funds to Lower Fees
Just like any other industry, competition combined with poor results is forcing hedge funds to charge less for their services to entice customers.
The current fee structure, known as 2-and-20, for the 2 percent fee charged on the total number of assets managed, and for the 20 percent of return managers take as their share of the profits. These high fees have long been a bone of contention between managers and their clients, but as more funds close and performance of these funds is in the doghouse, many investors are demanding more reasonable fees.
“Looking forward, you’ve seen this huge trend on average fee-collecting for hedge funds declining. That trend is strong and it’s going to continue going forward,” said Donald Steinbrugge, managing partner of Agecroft Partners, an industry marketing firm. “There’s going to be pressure on new funds coming out to be in line more with a 1½-and-20 model than a 2-and-20 model.”