Opalesque Roundtable: Intimate understanding of a company’s structure allows Akanthos’s Kao to be opportunistic... [more]By Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London: The Opalesque 2013 West Coast Roundtable, sponsored by Sunrise Capital, the The California Hedge Fund Association,

Preqin says growth in Asia Pacific credit markets should create opportunities for local credit hedge funds... [more]Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London: A new study from Preqin finds that the Asia Pacific hedge fund industry is dominated by long/short equity hed

Daniel Loeb raises stakes in Sony, adds pressure to spin off entertainment arm... [more]From Precy Dumlao, Opalesque Asia – Hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb on Monday raised his stakes in Sony Corp. by an additional 5 million shares, bringing his total shares to 70 million through director ownership and cash-settled swaps. This will increase the pressure on Sony to discuss Loeb’s pro

Are we rotating yet? If we do, will it matter?... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Market participants have long been looking for the "great rotation," out of fixed income, which has been in the works for several months according to some forecasters. Yet, inflows to both fixed income and equities have largely remained unchanged in any real way.

EU member states propose a harder line on dark pools in new agreement... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: According to a statement just released by the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a General Approach among EU Member States has been reached on the Markets in Fi

Macros go long on US treasuries and the US Dollar... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Macros increased their long exposure to 10yr Treasuries to a two-year high and to US dollars to the highest since July 2012, according to the

LGT Capital awarded GBP100m multi-alternatives mandate from Kingfisher Pension Scheme... [more]LGT Capital Partners has been awarded a GBP 100 million multi-alternatives mandate from Kingfisher Pension Scheme. The mandate is focused exclusively on alternative investments and includes hedge funds, commodities, insurance-linked securities, property, private equity and other alternative asset cl

Indices – Barclay Hedge Fund Index up 1.06% in May (+5.87% YTD); most hedge fund strategies have gains in 2013, RBC Hedge 250 Index up 0.60% in May, 4.85% YTD, Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index finished up 0.42% in May (5.43% YTD), Newedge CTA Index down -1.71% in May (2.58% YTD)... [more]Barclay Hedge Fund Index up 1.06% in May (+5.87% YTD); most hedge fund strategies have gains in 2013 Hedge funds gained 1.06% in May, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The Index is up 5.87% year to date. “While improving consumer confidence and higher pri

Investing – Hedge fund managers seek to mine defined contribution market, Paulson is betting big on housing recovery, not gold... [more]Hedge fund managers seek to mine defined contribution market From Onwallstreet.com: Advisors may soon see lower fees for liquid alternative asset funds – hedge fund mutual funds – thanks to the push by hedge fund managers to market these plans more aggressively into the defined contribut

Data handling ‘critical’ for hedge funds... [more]From Thetradenews.com: Handling and aggregating large volumes of trade data is becoming a critical issue for hedge funds, industry experts have warned. A report published this week by technology provider SunGard and consultancy Finadium found that transparency and reporting issues are among the bigg

Legal – Matthew Martoma, U.S. reach deal with university over laptop, Court appoints lead plaintiff in shareholder lawsuit against SAC... [more]Matthew Martoma, U.S. reach deal with university over laptop From Bloomberg.com: Ex-SAC Capital Advisors LP portfolio manager Mathew Martoma and U.S. prosecutors reached an agreement with the University of Michigan giving them access to documents encrypted on a laptop belonging to the go

Asia – Martin Curie says Japan will deliver value under Abenomics... [more]From Risk.net: Video: Source Opalesque has recently produced several video interviews of Japanese finance professionals, which you can view on Opales

Commodities – Hedge funds cut Brent crude net-longs from three-month high, Hedge funds wrong-footed on cocoa, soy, sugar bets... [more]Hedge funds cut Brent crude net-longs from three-month high From Bloomberg.com: Hedge funds and other money managers cut bullish bets on Brent crude from a three-month high, the first reduction in seven weeks, according to data from ICE Futures Europe. Speculative bets that prices will r

Service Providers – Abacus Group launches FlexDriveTM... [more]Abacus Group LLC, a provider of hosted IT solutions for hedge funds and private equity funds, today unveiled FlexDriveTM, a file-hosting service that allows hedge funds and private equity firms to securely share and transfer files with other users and other devices. FlexDrive provides on-demand clou

Activist News – Starboard Value says bid for Smithfield too low, Scout Capital discloses 6% stake in Tim Hortons; company faces two large activists... [more]Starboard Value says bid for Smithfield too low From USAtoday.com: The proposed sale of Smithfield Foods to China's largest meat processor was muddied Monday after a hedge fund suggested investors could get a much better price. New York-based investment firm Starboard Value, which own

News Briefs – Fidelity star fund manager Anthony Bolton to step down... [more]Britain's best-known fund manager, Anthony Bolton of Fidelity, is to retire next year with his reputation as a legendary investor "tarnished" by the relative failure of his £460m China fund. Bolton, 63, will step down in April 2014 and be replaced by Dale Nicholls, currently manager of Fidelity's Pa

…And Finally – Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the new flying bicycle!... [more]From Orange.co.uk: Two British designers have unveiled a flying bicycle that requires no license to fly and is capable of altitudes of up to 4,000ft. (Photos: : Source) Yannick Read and John Fo