Bridgewater Associates’ Bridgewater All Weather fund, a so-called risk parity strategy, gained about 2.4 percent in March and is now up 2.81 percent for the year. Last year the fund, which manages $70 billion, lost 7 percent. In addition, Bridgewater Pure Alpha II lost nearly 1 percent in March and was down slightly less than 7 percent for the first quarter.
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Salient Partners’ risk parity fund — although much smaller than Bridgewater’s — is also faring well this year. Salient Risk Parity Fund V15 jumped 5.82 percent in March and is now up 5.99 percent for the year. Altogether, Salient has about $300 million in its private risk parity funds.
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It looks like it’s official. David Tepper and his Appaloosa Management hedge fund firm have left Short Hills, New Jersey for southeastern Florida. The move will be a financial boon to Tepper, who will no longer have to worry about paying personal income taxes or estate taxes. New Jersey, on the other hand, is losing the richest taxpayer in the high-tax state.
“We may be facing an unusual degree of income-tax forecast risk,” Frank Haines, budget and finance officer with the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, told a state Senate committee on Tuesday in Trenton, according to a Bloomberg report, which points out that personal income taxes account for about 40 percent of New Jersey’s revenue. What’s more, less than 1 percent of taxpayers kick in about one-third of tax receipts. Tepper is not the first hedge fund manager to move to Florida. Several years ago Edward Lampert of ESL Partners moved to the Sunshine State from Connecticut.
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Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital disclosed it owns 8.1 million shares, or 5.9 percent, of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company. The global advisory firm began operating after the early January completion of the merger between Willis Group Holdings and Towers Watson. ValueAct, a San Francisco-based activist hedge fund firm, had sizable positions in both of those stocks at the time. Ubben serves on the board of directors of Willis Towers.
In a regulatory filing, ValueAct said it plans to speak with management and the board about ways to boost the stock price. “The topics of these conversations will cover a range of issues,” including those related to operations, overall business strategy, executive compensation, and corporate governance. ValueAct also said it may also speak to other shareholders, industry analysts, existing or potential strategic partners or competitors and investment professionals.
The filing occurs one day after the Department of Justice filed a civil suit against the hedge fund firm alleging that its stock purchases of Halliburton and Baker Hughes violated anti-trust rules. On Tuesday Reuters reported that the DOJ planned to sue the two energy service giants in an attempt to stop their planned merger.
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Starboard Value’s Jeffrey Smith has resigned from the board of Darden Restaurants. He had served as a director and as chairman since October 2014, after his New York activist firm won a proxy fight with the restaurant company and changed the entire 12-person board. “I am able to move on to other projects at this time because of the outstanding chemistry and capabilities of both the Board and management,” Smith said in a statement. Shares of Darden fell 3.8 percent, to close at $64.80. However, the stock is still up 35 percent since Starboard won its proxy fight.
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Bridger Management has taken an activist position in Trovagene, a molecular diagnostic company with a $145 million market cap. In a regulatory filing, the hedge fund headed by Tiger Grandcub Roberto Mignone said that since March 31 it has been in discussions with company management, the board, other shareholders and other parties regarding the business and composition of the board and management. The stock jumped 2.7 percent on the news.
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D.E. Shaw disclosed it owns 3.6 million shares, or 5 percent, of Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, the company whose main assets are Liberty’s subsidiaries TripAdvisor and BuySeasons.
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BlueMountain Capital Management disclosed it owns 1.83 million shares of Hanger, or 5.1 percent of the provider of orthotic and prosthetic products and services.
