Daniel Loeb’s Third Point Offshore sharply reduced its net exposure in its long-short book at the end of September to 49.3 percent, the fourth straight month it cut its net long position. This is down from 62.7 percent the previous month, 66.66 percent at the end of July and 70.2 percent at the end of June. Before that period, Third Point, managed by the New York-based hedge fund firm of the same name, was up 5.7 percent. The New York fund subsequently lost money in three of the next four months, including 4.5 percent in September. It is now down 4.4 percent for the year to date. However, this is still better than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which is down 5.3 percent for the year. Not all of Third Point’s September loss came from its long-short book. The fund also posted a 0.4 percent decline in its credit portfolio as well, according to its monthly report.
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Meanwhile, Third Point Ventures, the venture capital arm of Third Point, participated in the recent blockbuster $1 billion Series E funding for SoFi, a fast-growing financing firm. The latest fund-raising, led by SoftBank, brings total equity investments in SoFi to $1.42 billion. Since 2011 SoFi has helped college graduates consolidate and refinance their federal and private student loans. It has since expanded to offering mortgages, mortgage refinancing, and personal loans.
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Daniel Och’s OZ Master Fund, managed by New York-based Och Ziff Capital Management, lost 3.66 percent last month, putting the multistrategy fund in negative territory for the year. It is now down 1.99 through September. The firm’s OZ Asia Master Fund declined 1.39 percent in September, cutting its gain for the year to 2.84 percent, while its OZ Europe Master Fund fell 2.11 percent last month but is still up 3.83 percent for the year. Mostly due to the losses last month, company-wide assets under management declined by about $2 billion, or 4.3 percent to $44.1 billion as of October 1, compared with the previous month.
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Finally a good day for David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, which is down 16.9 percent for the year through September. Shares of Micron Technology — a long-time major holding for the fund, managed by the New York-based firm of the same name — surged about 7.7 percent on Friday after the chip maker reported quarterly results that beat the consensus forecast. Even so, Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the stock, from $28 to $20, and reduced its estimates, although it maintained its Buy recommendation.
“We believe risk-reward is attractive for a recovery play in 2016,” the investment bank tells clients in a note. Two top-ten hedge fund shareholders include New York-based Greenlight as well as Boston-based Baupost Group.
Meanwhile, SunEdison, another major Greenlight holding, surged 14.7 percent. The stock is still down 75 percent from its late June peak, however. General Motors, another one of Greenlight’s top longs, surged 3.5 percent on Friday.
