Opalesque Exclusive: New research looks at how many ICOs turn out to be scams... [more]Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Are Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) a scam? New research from Daniel Liebau and Patrick Schueffel looks at a group of ICOs from 2016 to determine how many offerings were fraudulent and what investors can do to safeguard their capital. The work was presented at the

Aberdeen Standard and alternatives boutique Gresham House join forces... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI), the fund management arm of Standard Life Aberdeen, has formed a joint venture (JV) with UK-based alternatives specialist Gresham House to target smaller listed companies. The JV, which will be owned 50:50 by Gresham and Aberdeen

Investors added $1.69bn to hedge funds in February... [more]Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Investors may have added $1.69bn to hedge funds in February but face a rough road in 2019 with net inflows still in the negative YTD for 2019, said the eVestment February 2019 Hedge Fund Asset Flows Report. February is traditionally a bellwether month for hedge fu

Al Breach's hedge fund rockets to $1.4bn in assets... [more]From Intelli News: A hedge fund founded by former Russian star strategist Al Breach has seen its assets under management rocket by 70% last year to almost $1.4bn, bne IntelliNews can reveal. Gemsstock's client assets climbed to $1.37bn by September 2018 from $830mn for the prior year, according to a

U.S. fund Elliott suffers crushing defeat in Hyundai proxy vote, Paul Singer unnerves Korea's billionaires whether he wins or loses... [more]U.S. fund Elliott suffers crushing defeat in Hyundai proxy vote From Reuters: Investors in Hyundai Motor Group companies rejected on Friday Elliott Management's demands for a massive special dividend and board seats, dealing a blow to the U.S. hedge fund's campaign to shake up South Korea

New Launches: Kevin Durant, Will Smith top the lineup for a new venture-capital fund, KKR raising first Asia real estate fund, targeting $1.5bn... [more]Kevin Durant, Will Smith top the lineup for a new venture-capital fund From WSJ: Silicon Valley stalwart Andreessen Horowitz is launching a novel effort to boost diversity in technology: an exclusive new fund targeted at black celebrities, athletes and media figures. Basketball star

Investing: U.S. hedge fund manager Steve Eisman builds short position in Canadian bank stocks, Investors keep Puerto Rico bonds after first chapter of restructuring, BlackRock funds invest in pot stock as legalized weed gains, Investors in credit are backing hammers that see only nails... [more]U.S. hedge fund manager Steve Eisman builds short position in Canadian bank stocks From FT: A fund manager made famous by the book The Big Short has refocused his sights on Canada, betting that a tottering housing market and a sluggish economy will bring trouble for the country's bigge

Did hedge funds hurt GM?... [more]From Institutional Investor: Demands for billions in buybacks have forced tough decisions on the automaker, a new report argues. The recent political furor over General Motors' plant closure in Lordstown, Ohio, has raised a question over the wisdom of the company's billions in share buybacks a

Institutional Investors: San Francisco continues to reduce equity portfolio, LACERA chooses Albourne for alts consulting, puts up to $250m with 2 firms, Strathclyde allocates $1.18bn to quartet of private debt managers, Ohio Police & Fire allocates $40m to 2 PE funds... [more]San Francisco continues to reduce equity portfolio From CIO: The board of the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (SFERS) has terminated two investment strategies run by Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) due to poor performance as it continues to restructure and reduce its more than

People: Michael Gelband's hedge fund ExodusPoint has added a trio of former Carlson Capital staffers to its growing team, HSBC GAM appoints UK business development head from Aviva Investors... [more]Michael Gelband's hedge fund ExodusPoint has added a trio of former Carlson Capital staffers to its growing team From Business Insider: ExodusPoint, which set a record for the biggest hedge fund launch ever last year with $8 billion in seed capital, has brought on Ivan Ross, the former he

Crypto: Numerai token sale raises $11m from VC Firms Paradigm, Placeholder, Northern Trust, crypto hedge funds find welcoming atmosphere amongst traditional institutions, $740m valued Bakkt will need huge volume to keep investors happy, Singapore's Ecxx set to launch crypto exchange with $44m backing... [more]Numerai token sale raises $11m from VC Firms Paradigm, Placeholder From Coin Desk: Few companies in 2019 have managed to attract venture capitalists to private token sales without giving up equity. Yet the hedge fund and predictions market startup Numerai just closed an $11 million round

U.S.: Insurers and hedge fund form creditor group in PG&E bankruptcy, After suffering bruising losses, Ackman pursues quiet recovery, Here's who may have been crushed in Biogen's $18bn plunge... [more]Insurers and hedge fund form creditor group in PG&E bankruptcy From WSJ: A group of insurance companies and hedge fund Baupost Group LLC have formed a creditor group to attempt recouping the billions of dollars in insurance payouts from PG&E Corp. stemming from damage caused by California

Europe: Europe's bourses say report refutes data profiteering claims, M&A: Are we heading for mass consolidation of AM in Europe... [more]Europe's bourses say report refutes data profiteering claims From Reuters: Stock exchanges in Europe are not harming markets or gouging customers with the fees they charge for data, an industry-commissioned report said. The report from consultants Oxera for the Federation of European Secu

Asia: MSCI: Japan's ESG investment expanding beyond GPIF... [more]ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investment in Japan has begun to penetrate beyond the well-known example of the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF). During 2018, Japan's three major trust banks (shintaku ginko) launched commingled funds tracking MSCI's ESG index for corporate pens

Manager Profile: Meet the young female fund manager shaking up the traditionally male-dominated industry... [more]In a boardroom setting, she stands out. She's not in a grey suit and tie. She's young. And she's female. At just 29, Victoria Harris is one of New Zealand's up-and-coming fund managers and her message is clear: more women need to move into finance and change this picture. "I've been interested

Legal: Judge advises Lampert's firm to pay back millions swiped from Sears, Allston hedge fund manager gets lengthy sentence in Ponzi scheme, Rajat Gupta is unrepentant for his crimes... [more]Judge advises Lampert's firm to pay back millions swiped from Sears A bankruptcy judge has "strongly" advised the company that bought Sears out of bankruptcy to hand over millions of dollars to the old Sears. At a Thursday hearing, Judge Robert Drain weighed in on the contentious financia

Activists: Activist investor Paulson opposes Newmont's merger deal with Goldcorp, GCP adopts poison pill to thwart hedge fund... [more]Activist investor Paulson opposes Newmont's merger deal with Goldcorp From WSJ: Paulson & Co. said Thursday it opposes Newmont Mining Corp.'s $10 billion merger with Goldcorp Inc. because it would transfer away significant gains from a recently announced Nevada joint venture. "Under

News Briefs: Hedge Fund legend Michael Steinhardt accused of sexual harassment, A 28-year-old hedge fund star who took on Bill Ackman slammed a 'bizarre' ban on short selling a $14bn German company, VC firms see more unicorn exits, higher values in 2018, A portfolio explains firms' flawed approach to using alternative data, and how they can fix it... [more]Hedge Fund legend Michael Steinhardt accused of sexual harassment From Institutional Investor: Legendary hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt was accused of a pattern of sexual harassment in a joint report published Thursday by the New York Times and journalism non-profit ProPublica.

And, finally: Politician who opposes mandatory chickenpox vaccinations contracts chickenpox... [more]From Independent: A senior member of Matteo Salvini's far-right League party who is an outspoken critic of Italy's mandatory vaccination rules has been treated in hospital after contracting chickenpox. Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the northeastern Fruili-Venezia Giulia region, announced h