Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital boosted its stake in Vitamin Shoppe to more than 2 million shares, or 6.94 percent of the nutritional products retail chain. In a regulatory filing the Dallas-based manager repeated earlier statements that Carlson has previously held discussions and corresponded with management and the company’s board regarding, among other things, business, management and strategic alternatives and direction. Carlson also stressed that the stock currently trades “at a substantial discount” to its intrinsic value and represents an attractive investment opportunity. It also said it plans to discuss with the company’s management and board “ways in which this undervaluation can be rectified,” including cutting expenses, altering the company’s capital allocation and share buyback policies and the composition of the board. Carlson also threatened to have discussions with other shareholders and individuals “that may be interested in transactions with the company.”
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BlueMountain Capital Management’s James (Jes) Staley is widely believed to be leaving to become the new head of Barclays and Barclays Bank, according to several news reports. On Tuesday the banking giant acknowledged the reports in a tweet, adding, “The process of appointing a new group chief executive officer has not yet concluded and Barclays will provide a further update once that is complete.” Staley joined New York-based BlueMountain in February 2013 as a managing partner. He came to the firm after spending more than 30 years at J.P. Morgan, where he was the CEO of J.P. Morgan’s investment bank and CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. BlueMountain deploys 12 investment strategies spanning five thematic groups: credit and capital structure, distressed and special situations, equity, structured finance and real estate, and arbitrage and technical trading.
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Viking Global Investors established a nearly 5.4 million shares stake in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, or 5.3 percent of the total outstanding of the healthcare diagnostics company. Healthcare stocks are the largest sector exposure for the Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund firm, founded by Tiger Cub O. Andreas Halvorsen.
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The SS&C GlobeOp Hedge Fund Performance Index registered a 1.56 percent loss for September. In addition, the SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index showed a 1.13 percent decline in hedge fund flows in October. This reflects primarily seasonal factors, says Bill Stone, chairman and chief executive officer of SS&C Technologies, in a press release. It also was virtually identical to the October 2014 reading.
