Canyon Capital Advisors has nominated three candidates to the board of directors of Ambac Financial Group, including one former hedge fund executive. The Los Angeles hedge fund firm, which owns nearly 5 percent of the shares of the bond insurer, lambasted the existing board for “maintaining the status quo.”
The three nominees include John Brecker, who serves as a director of several financial-related firms. He also co-founded hedge fund Longacre Fund Management in November 1998 and served as manager and principal from 1999 to 2012. The New York firm had shut down amid losses and redemptions.
The other two directors are Frederick Arnold — chief financial officer of ConvergEx Group, a financial services firm — and Eugene Davis, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of PIRINATE Consulting Group. Canyon says in a press release Arnold “has strong expertise navigating highly complex and troubled situations which typically entail change, operational improvements and enhancements to corporate governance.” It says Davis “has significant expertise” leading successful turnarounds and “extensive experience” serving on many boards.
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Hedge fund flows rose 0.82 percent in March, according to the SS&C GlobeOp Capital Movement Index. This was up from an increase of 0.59 percent in February and 0.63 percent from March 2015.
“The March data continued the trend of recent months in which inflows have held fairly steady while outflows have run below year-ago levels,” says Bill Stone, chairman and chief executive officer of SS&C Technologies, in a press release. Noting the significant volatility and several sharp downturns in the past year, Stone adds: “The CMI results indicate investors remain confident that hedge fund managers will deliver superior risk-adjusted returns.”
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Wall Street Week is returning to its original time slot. The television show revived last year by Anthony Scaramucci is moving over to FOX Business Network, which will produce and air the show beginning this Friday at 8:00 p.m. and rerun it at 8:30 p.m. It will also be rerun over the weekend.
The show, which usually includes an interesting interview with a major hedge fund manager or some other Wall Street luminary, is co-hosted by Scaramucci and Gary Kaminsky. Scaramucci is a co-managing partner and founder of SkyBridge Capital, a funds of hedge funds firm that also produces the SkyBridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference. Kaminsky appears on FBN’s Mornings with Maria, is a senior advisor at Morgan Stanley and was formerly vice chairman of Global Wealth Management. Wall Street Week was originally hosted by Louis Rukeyser.
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Shares of SunEdison jumped about 11 percent to $2.13 on a little more than the daily average volume. There was no new news regarding the alternative energy company, which has been a favorite of some well-known hedge funds, on Monday.
