The Alden Global Opportunities fund, run by New York-based Alden Global Capital, continues to be one of the top performing hedge funds this year. Although it only posted a 0.5 percent gain in May, the opportunistic event-driven fund is up 18 percent for the year. May returns were driven by investments in Greek banks, Lehman Brothers, and commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to someone familiar with the returns. These investments have also been among the top return drivers for the year. The $1.4 billion fund was up 32 percent in 2013.
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Former SAC Capital Advisors trader Mathew Martoma will learn his fate on July 28. That is the new date for his sentencing, which was originally scheduled for June 10. The court’s probation department has recommended that Martoma serve between 15.7 and 19.6 years in prison based on the $276 million that Martoma’s crimes earned SAC, according to the New York Post. Little surprise, Martoma’s attorneys are calling this sentence “outrageous.” The long delay has some speculating that Martoma may finally be willing to cooperate with the government. Martoma was convicted of insider trading charges in February.
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A Houston hedge fund manager lost his bid to have a civil securities case thrown out of court. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused George Jarkesy Jr., who is also a radio personality, and his firm, John Thomas Capital Management, of defrauding investors in two hedge funds. (The firm has since been renamed Patriot28 LLC). According to the regulator, Karkesy worked closely with Anastasios (Tommy) Belesis — who calls his firm John Thomas Financial — to launch two hedge funds that raised $30 million. Jarkesy inflated valuations of the funds’ assets, causing investors to pay higher management and incentive fees, which Karkesy funneled to John Thomas Financial, the regulator alleged. Jarkesy was also accused of lying to investors about the identity of the funds’ auditor and prime broker and of portraying the two John Thomas firms as independent of each other.
Jarkesy and Patriot28 assert that they can’t get a fair hearing before the SEC due to findings in a settlement with Belesis, according to a Bloomberg report. However, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that Jarkesy must pursue his claims through the regular process.
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Geraldine Sundstrom has joined PIMCO as a managing director and portfolio manager in the firm’s asset allocation area. She was previously a partner at Brevan Howard Asset Management, where she led the $2.7 billion Emerging Markets Strategy fund. Prior to that, she was a portfolio manager at Moore Capital Management.
