Private equity giant Carlyle Group has continued to put up strong numbers in its core buyout business, but the firm has failed to replicate that success with hedge funds, the New York Times reports. Earlier this month, the firm announced that investors in credit-focused hedge fund firm Claren Road Asset Management, in which Carlyle purchased a majority stake in 2010, had asked to pull a total of $2 billion — bringing the firm’s total redemption requests since last September up to a hefty $6 billion, according to the report. Claren Road lost 9.7 percent in 2014 after eight straight years of gains, the paper reports.
Carlyle bought an ownership stake in commodities firm Vermillion Asset Management in 2012; the fund went from managing $2.2 billion that year to just $50 million today. Back in 2008, the firm pulled the plug on its Blue Wave Partners hedge fund after bad performance made it tough for the fund to raise assets; that same year, its mortgage bond fund Carlyle Capital Corp. liquidated after defaulting on $16.6 billion in debt. Carlyle Group’s struggles with its hedge fund unit have raised questions about its ability to diversify its revenue streams as well as its rivals have, according to the report.
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A hedge fund managed by Mark Spitznagel’s Miami, Florida-based Universa Investments made $1 billion during last week’s market turmoil, a figure that includes both realized and paper gains, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fund made 20 percent on Monday alone, when the Dow Jones industrial average collapsed more than 1,000 points in its largest-ever intraday drop. The fund’s returns reached 20 percent for the year through early last week, according to the report, which cited a person familiar with the firm. The market declines were something of a vindication for Spitznagel, who told the paper, “The markets are overvalued to the tune of 50 percent, and I’ve been saying that for some time.” Universa, which is affiliated with “Black Swan” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb, gained more than 100 percent for some clients in 2008, posted gains ranging from 10 percent to 30 percent for clients in 2011, and posted small losses in all other years, according to the report. Universa, a so-called black swan fund, was designed to produce big returns in falling markets and record small losses when markets gain.
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UK investment firm Aberdeen Asset Management has raised $500 million for a so-called liquid alt fund that will invest in a selection of hedge fund managers and allow investors to redeem on a daily basis, Reuters reports. “This style of investment is becoming more popular among investors concerned about the current levels of equity and fixed income markets and the potential for more correlation between asset classes in the future,” the firm said in a statement. Aberdeen has been making moves into the alternative investment industry, most recently by purchasing U.S. funds-of-funds group Arden Asset Management, according to the report.
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Bob Evans Farms hired former Arby’s Restaurant Group president and CEO Douglas Benham as executive chair, a newly created role, until it finds a permanent CEO, the Wall Street Journal reports. Benham joined the company’s board a year ago. Its CEO Steve Davis resigned in December following the board’s decision to push for changes as the result of a proxy fight led by activist hedge fund firm Sandell Asset Management. The company elected four of Sandell’s nominees to its board last year.
