Blackstone Group has raised $1.4 billion for a fund that will buy stakes in hedge-fund firms, according to Bloomberg, citing Blackstone Vice Chairman Tom Hill, who was speaking at Credit Suisse Group AG’s financial-services forum in Boca Raton, Florida. Its goal is to raise a total of $3 billion, which will be used to invest in mid-size firms with $3 billion to $4 billion in assets. This group falls slightly below Alpha’s annual Hedge Fund 100 ranking, whose cutoff for the 2012 year — the most recent available — was $5.2 billion.
“You have an opportunity not only to benefit from their growth but also to look down the road at creating a public vehicle for that,” Hill reportedly said. “We will, in our mind, dominate that space the way we have dominated the seeding space.” Blackstone manages $56 billion in funds-of-hedge-funds and seeds new managers.
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Shares of Air Products and Chemicals surged 4.52 percent to close Thursday at $116.93 after Pershing Square Capital Management’s William Ackman talked up the stock at The Harbor Investment Conference in New York on Wednesday. He told the audience at the charity event the stock could double in the next few years if the industrial gas producer hires the right chief executive. “This is a $200 plus stock over the next three years with new management,” Ackman said, according to Reuters.
Of course, Ackman also could not help addressing Herbalife, which he told the audience is now a “levered pyramid scheme” because of its recent stock buyback and debt offering, according to CNBC. Addressing another previously failed investment, he asserted Target has “lost some of its magic,” adding: “Security of your data is something people feel strongly about, and they really have hurt their reputation and will have to do some things to win their customers back. “ On the other hand, he said Procter & Gamble is a “phenomenal business with an enormous opportunity,” according to CNBC.
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The SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index climbed 0.94 percent in February. “Net flows were positive for the month, with subscriptions outpacing redemptions by 2 to 1,” said Bill Stone, chairman and chief executive of SS&C Technologies. The Index has declined 0.29 point over the past 12 months. It represents the monthly net of hedge fund subscriptions and redemptions administered by SS&C GlobeOp on the GlobeOp platform.
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Shares of hedge fund favorite American International Group rose 1 percent or so in after hours trading after the company reported much better earnings than expected and announced it will hike its dividend by 25 percent. The stock had jumped more than 1 percent in the regular Thursday trading session as well.
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Credit Suisse raised its estimates and target price on hedge fund favorite Priceline.com to $1450 from $1275, calling it “an open-ended growth story.” It refers to the internet travel company’s “best-in-class execution and technology and difficult-to-replicate scale.” The bank also says that Wall Street has consistently underestimated the company’s growth prospects. The stock surged 2.36 percent to close at $1276.07.
