Opalesque Exclusive: Private equity returns fall from decade high... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: New research from eFront shows that LBO performance has fallen for three straight quarters from its 10-year high in 2017. According to eFront's latest Quarterly Private Equity Performance report after reaching a peak of 1.49x in Q3 2017, the average ret

EU derivatives market valued at $756tn... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Trade repositories reported a total of 74 million open transactions at the end of 2017, amounting to a gross notional outstanding of around EUR 660 trillion ($756tn), according to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)'s first annual statistic report

Eurekahedge report shows hedge funds up 0.26% for the year, weakest performance since 2011... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Hedge funds are up 0.26 percent for the year in September, their weakest performance on record since 2011, according to the October 2018 Eurekahedge Report. In 2011, hedge funds declined 2.96 percent in the nine months through to September. Almost 49 percent o

Hedge fund assets hit yet another new peak of $3.24tn in 3Q despite investor outflows... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Hedge fund industry assets hit a new record level of $3.24 trillion, ending the quarter on September 30 - the ninth consecutive quarter of record-breaking assets under management - despite investor outflows. According to the latest HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Re

Cordillera closes second fund on $362m... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Cordillera Investment Partners has closed its second fund Cordillera Investment Fund II, L.P. on $362 million. The fund was oversubscribed. Cordillera was founded by Agustin "Gus" Araya, Chris Heller, and Ashley Marks, who have spent their careers investing

New Launches: Thematic shop CPR launches education-focused fund, Patrizia launches eleventh private investor fund... [more]Thematic shop CPR launches education-focused fund From City Wire: CPR Asset Management has expanded its diverse range of strategies with what it believes to be the first education-focused equity fund. The new Luxembourg-domiciled fund, CPR Invest - Education, will be co-run by Guillaume Ue

Trends: European selectors shun hedge funds, Hedge fund execs dragging down the richest New Yorkers... [more]European selectors shun hedge funds From Expert Investor Europe: European fund buyers are turning away from hedge funds amid concerns about developed market bond yields. All hedge strategy sentiment took a hit in Q3 as popularity for long/short bonds and multi-strategy slipped to holding

Sears gone wrong?: How the hedge fund manager running Sears cut his losses, Sears's Edward Lampert was a wizard. Now he's coming to terms with failure, Edward Lampert: Sears gone wrong... [more]How the hedge fund manager running Sears cut his losses From NY Times: Edward S. Lampert, who leads the struggling retailer, has taken control of valuable real estate and businesses. The hedge fund manager Edward S. Lampert has spent the last 14 years steering Sears as it spun off busines

Institutional Investors: Bridging the GAAP with insurers and alternative investments, Duquesne places money in offshore hedge fund accounts, Banks and Australian Super turn the screws on property investors as markets slow... [more]Bridging the GAAP with insurers and alternative investments From PIonline.com: Given the last decade of depressed interest rates, low-yielding bonds and increasing liabilities, insurers around the world have sought solace in their asset management arms, setting their sights on an investme

Blackstone reports record $457bn in AUM... [more]Blackstone reports record $457bn in AUM From PIonline.com: Blackstone Group reported a record $457 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30, up 4% from the quarter ended June 30 and 18% from the end of the year earlier quarter, according to the alternative investments firm's earnings repor

Performance: Chris Hohn's TCI on track to post fourth straight double-digit gain... [more]From Institutional Investor: The London-based activist recently liquidated two big positions and cut back on another, while boosting a big and lucrative bet. Chris Hohn's TCI Fund Management has been pretty busy of late.In the past few months the London-based hedge fund firm, one of the top per

People: Point72 continues adding to its macro team, Russell Investments names head of UK distribution, Kames' Kenny exits amid pre-Brexit sales team restructure, JP Morgan Asset Management names new Asia Pacific chief... [more]Point72 continues adding to its macro team From eFinancial Careers: Steven Cohen's Point72 Asset Management is pushing forward with its macro investing strategy with the hiring of two new analysts - one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. Adrien Cohen, a former junior macro trader at Soc

Crypto: Trading firm Genesis loaned $553m in crypto since March, Zebpay, India's biggest crypto exchange moves to Malta, 85% of developers can alter their cryptoassets' protocol, research shows, Debunked: How Nouriel Roubini failed to attack crypto with cherrypicked data... [more]Trading firm Genesis loaned $553m in crypto since March From Bloomberg: Genesis Global Trading, one of the largest over-the-counter cryptocurrency dealers, said it has loaned digital assets valued at more than half a billion dollars to institutional borrowers including hedge funds and oth

Legal: Bitcoin hedge fund and CEO slapped with $2.5m penalty for ponzi scheme... [more]A New York federal court has ordered New York corporation Gelfman Blueprint, Inc. (GBI) and its Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Gelfman of Brooklyn, New York, to pay in total over $2.5 million in civil monetary penalties and restitution in what was the first anti-fraud enforcement action involving

Opinion: Leon Cooperman: I made my fortune thanks to luck and common sense, These guys should start a hedge fund... [more]Leon Cooperman: I made my fortune thanks to luck and common sense From CNBC: After a successful 25-year career at Goldman Sachs, billionaire investor Leon Cooperman left to start his own hedge fund, Omega Advisors, in 1991. Today, his firm manages approximately $3.4 billion in assets. But

The U.S: Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin gives $6m to top Republican leaders, A hedge fund manager will accept bitcoin for his $16m mansion... [more]Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin gives $6m to top Republican leaders From Chicago Tribune: Hedge fund founder and Illinois' richest person Ken Griffin gave $6 million to the state's Republican legislative leaders as they fight for seats in Springfield, campaign records showed. Grif

Asia: Solactive opens office in Hong Kong, It took seven months, but Blue Sky finally comes clean... [more]Solactive opens office in Hong Kong From Investment Europe: German Index provider Solactive AG has set up its second international business entity in Hong Kong to accommodate the rapid growth the Frankfurt-based company witnessed over the past years. The new office houses a dedicated

Europe: Brexit fund loads up with U.K. exporters as make-or-break nears, KAS Bank launches KASHedge for pension scheme currency hedging, EU teams up with Bill Gates to launch $115.2m clean energy investment fund... [more]Brexit fund loads up with U.K. exporters as make-or-break nears From Bloomberg: The manager of an outperforming fund with Brexit in its name says a deal will come -- but is ready if it doesn't. That's because FDC Brexit, which has three-quarters of its portfolio in U.K. stocks, is loa

Activists: The Campbell Soup fight: Hedge-fund billionaire Dan Loeb goes after Campbell Soup with critical video - 'Mmm, Mmm, Bad', Campbell, Third Point battle heats up, no concessions on the table, Daniel Loeb's Third Point turns up the heat on Campbell Soup, Dan Loeb comes out swinging in Campbell Soup fight... [more]Hedge-fund billionaire Dan Loeb goes after Campbell Soup with critical video - 'Mmm, Mmm, Bad' From CNBC: Third Point, which has a nearly 7 percent stake, has teamed up with George Strawbridge Jr., a descendant of the company's founder who has a 2.7 percent stake, to oust all

News Briefs: An inside look at Winton, the $27 billion British hedge fund that's decked out with fossils, statues of Paddington Bear, and a chart-filled room that's basically paradise for finance nerds, Here's how many people make more than $50m per year - in wages... [more]An inside look at Winton, the $27 billion British hedge fund that's decked out with fossils, statues of Paddington Bear, and a chart-filled room that's basically paradise for finance nerds From SF Gate: Data rules everything in financial markets. While this view predominates in 201

And, finally: Michigan pizzeria employee makes 'epic' delivery for terminally ill man nearly 500 miles away... [more]From Fox: Talk about service. A Michigan pizzeria employee went out of his way - quite literally - to deliver a couple of pies to a man battling cancer. When Julie and Rich Morgan lived in Battle Creek 25 years ago, Rich would always bring home Steve's Pizza for dinner each payday, even though m