The Morning Brief: Wainscott Capital Hedge Fund Founder Murdered

The founder of a New York-based hedge fund was shot and killed Sunday by his 30 year-old son, according to the New York Daily News, citing police sources. Thomas Gilbert Sr., 70, who founded Wainscott Capital Partners, was shot in his tony apartment at 20 Beekman Pl. during a confrontation with his son, Thomas Gilbert Jr., according to the report. Gilbert’s wife called 911 after finding her husband murdered in his bedroom, according to the report. Police nabbed the hedge fund manager’s son at 10:45 p.m. on Sunday after chopping down the door of his Chelsea apartment, where they found him hiding.

Gilbert founded the long-short fund in 2011. On its website, the firm describes itself as “an opportunistic, actively-managed global long/short equity hedge fund that focuses primarily on biotech/healthcare investing.” Gilbert had served as the managing member of Wainscott Capital Partners and president of Wainscott Capital Management, the fund’s management company. He is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Business School.

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Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners unloaded its entire stake in Civeo Corp. On December 30 the New York-based hedge fund firm sold more than 12 million shares of the lodging and workforce accommodations company for between $4.05 and $4.30 per share, according to a regulatory filing. The day before, the company reduced its guidance, slashed its headcount and suspended its dividend.

Back on October 23, Civeo and Jana — which owned 11 percent of the stock at the time — announced a deal under which the company would add three new independent directors. Civeo’s board also agreed to create a so-called value creation committee to review ways to boost the stock’s value.

On September 29, shares of the one-time unit of Oil States International plunged about 50 percent in one day when Civeo abandoned plans to convert to a real estate investment trust (REIT) and also said it would redomicile in Canada. The stock fell another 10 percent the following day. The stock fell more than 82 percent from its closing price the day it officially began trading on May 19 through December 30, the day Jana liquidated its position. On that day volume spiked 19 times its daily average as the stock more than halved.