The Morning Brief: Bridgewater Sues Two Former Employees

Raymond Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates is suing two former employees, accusing them of overstating their previous roles while marketing their new fund, Convoy Investments, according to Forbes. In the a lawsuit, Bridgewater claims Howard Wang and Wenquan “Robert” Wu falsely advertised their hedge fund by passing themselves off as “former key figures responsible for core aspects of Bridgewater’s business,” according to the report. However, Bridgewater reportedly asserts “they were nothing of the sort.” Bridgewater wants a federal judge to order the pair to cease the misrepresentation and pay damages to Bridgewater.

According to Forbes’ account of the complaint, Wang “was never asked or permitted to in any way manage or oversee any Bridgewater fund. Nor did he ever make any investment decisions for Bridgewater.” Wang told Forbes: “Bridgewater in general has a pretty long history of going after its employees; we didn’t think they would go after us in this case but apparently they are.”

Wang joined Bridgewater in 2008 as a junior analyst in the client services department and left in 2012; Bridgewater says he told the firm he wanted to pursue ballroom dancing full time as a competitor, according to the report. Wu was a software developer in the internal finance department, responsible for calculating Bridgewater’s fees, according to the report. He worked on coding projects until he left the firm in 2010, according to Forbes.

___

Marc Lasry and Sonia Gardner, founders of New York-based investment management firm Avenue Capital Group, have raised about $500 million for a new fund, the Avenue Special Opportunities Fund II, according to a regulatory filing. Not many details are disclosed. The Avenue partners checked the box that says “other investment fund” as opposed to hedge fund, private equity or venture capital. They did indicate it is not a registered fund under the 1940 Act.

___

Dmitry Balyasny, founder of Chicago-based Balyasny Asset Management, recently shelled out $6.2 million for a lakefront home in Kenilworth, Illinois, according to Chicagobusiness.com. The recently renovated four-bedroom home has nearly one acre and sits just off of Lake Michigan, according to the report. The seller paid $750,000 in 1990 for the property.

___

Easy come, easy go. Alan Howard’s BH Macro Fund is down 3 percent so far this month, through October 17, putting it down for the year by 2.15 percent. It had gained 4 percent in September, moving it into positive territory by nearly 1 percent for the first three quarters of the year. It is managed by London-based Brevan Howard Asset Management.

___

SAB Capital Advisors disclosed it owns 5.1 percent of clothing retailer The Men’s Wearhouse. It is a passive investment.

Related