Greenwich, Connecticut-based Bridgewater Associates has long been known for its intense hiring process, but the world’s biggest hedge fund may be putting fewer potential hires through the ringer these days. On Sunday the New York Times reported that Bridgewater, which manages about $104 billion in hedge fund assets, has slowed down its typically brisk pace of hiring, telling recruitment firms to cancel “dozens” of interviews with potential hires and turning away people who had been in advanced negotiations for positions at Bridgewater. A spokesperson for the firm, typically very tight-lipped about such matters, declined to provide a comment to Alpha.
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Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital Offshore fund, managed by his New York-based firm Saba Capital Management, slipped up in June, posting a 3.51 percent decline for the month. The fund is still up 8.86 percent for the year, however. Weinstein’s closed-end fund is doing even better. It gained 1.8 percent in June and is now up 12.48 percent for the year. It manages about $100 million.
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New performance figures for European equity funds are trickling out, further highlighting the turbulence caused by the Brexit vote last month. London-based Lansdowne Partners’ Lansdowne European Equity fund fell about 5 percent in June and was down by more than 15 percent through the end of the month, according to a document from HSBC containing hedge fund performance information. London-based Pelham Partners, founded by Lansdowne alumnus Ross Turner, posted a roughly 10 percent loss in its $4 billion flagship long-short equity fund and is now down nearly the same amount for the year, according to reports. But June was actually a great month for Crispin Odey’s Odey European fund, managed by London-based Odey Asset Management, which is having an otherwise terrible year. The fund gained 6.57 percent in June but is still down about 24 percent for the year, according to sources.
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Meanwhile, back in the U.S., June also proved difficult for a pair of high-profile equity managers. Glenview Capital Partners, the flagship long-short equity fund managed by Larry Robbins out of New York-based Glenview Capital Management, fell 4.03 percent in June and is now down 10.88 percent for the year, according to HSBC. Richard (Mick) McGuire III’s Marcato International, managed by San Francisco-based Marcato Capital Management, declined by 3.6 percent in June and is off by 11.91 percent for the year.
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Paul Singer’s New York-based Elliott Management Corp. on Monday escalated its feud with the Bank of East Asia, filing a petition asking a court in Hong Kong to declare that the lender acted improperly when it issued shares last March that diluted minority stakes. The petition alleges that Bank of East Asia’s board passed resolutions related to placement of shares to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. “for an improper purpose.” The result was diluted minority shareholders and, according to Bloomberg, “entrenched management control.” Elliott has been pushing Bank of East Asia to sell itself and had been critical of Chairman David Li’s re-election to the board.
