Kimberly Mounts, named a Hedge Fund Rising Star by Institutional Investor in 2012, has died at the age of 48, Bloomberg reports. She had been in a drug-induced coma since October after suffering from cardiac arrest after working out in a gym. “She was a vegetarian, didn’t drink, didn’t smoke and worked out religiously,” her brother told Bloomberg. Mounts founded MAP Alternative Asset Management in 2006 after stints at Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley. Institutional Investor credited her for her expertise in credit derivatives and her interest in cultural diversity. MAP advises on credit-focused hedge funds and also identifies hedge fund firms owned by high-profile women or minority members. Mounts was among 140 invitees to a White House forum two years ago that included top administration officials.
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Shares of Microsoft jumped more than 4 percent on Wednesday, to close at $38.19, after Reuters reported that the software giant has moved closer to picking a new chief executive by narrowing the search down to five candidates. The stock is now up about 33 percent since Jeffrey Ubben’s San Francisco-based hedge fund firm ValueAct Capital bought about $1.9 billion of the stock in the first quarter. Two months ago, Microsoft agreed to cooperate with ValueAct. Under the deal, the company and certain directors will meet regularly with ValueAct president Mason Morfit. In addition, ValueAct has the option of having Morfit join Microsoft’s board at the first quarterly board meeting after the 2013 annual shareholders meeting. The hedge fund agreed not to own more than a certain amount of Microsoft stock. In the second quarter, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital bailed out of the stock altogether, smugly thanking Ubben (without naming him directly) for the run-up in the stock.
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Credit Suisse cut its price target on Jana Partners favorite Ashland — from $110 to $101 — after the chemicals company’s stock dropped more than 7 percent Tuesday even though it reported better-than-expected results. The investment bank tells clients in a note Wednesday it is lowering its earnings estimates for 2014 and 2015. Even so, Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating, asserting that “the stock still offers solid upside.” Deutsche Bank maintained its Buy rating and $105 target price, stressing that investors misinterpreted the CEO’s comments on a conference call when he seemed to suggest he plans to retain its low-margin Valvoline business, which investors want the company to sell. “We believe a tax-free spin of Valvoline will follow soon after, completing Ashland’s transformation into a pure-play specialty chemicals company,” the bank tells clients in a Wednesday note. The stock rebounded slightly to close Wednesday at $88.34.
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Credit Suisse raised its earnings estimates for the next three years for Och-Ziff Capital Management and lifted its price target for the stock to $13.50 from $13 after third-quarter results came in above expectations. Credit Suisse noted that certain expenses were lower at the firm, which is one of the only publicly-traded hedge fund companies. However, it said management fees continue to inch lower. In a conference call with investors, founder and chairman Daniel Och said the 10.87 percent year-to-date performance at the firm’s main multi-strategy fund, OZ Master Fund, has been driven this year primarily by its long-short equity and credit-related strategies. “During the quarter, we took advantage of market volatility to enter a long-short equity allocation, where our focus remains on selecting positions with defined events and catalysts while also seeking investment opportunities with strong underlying fundamentals,” he elaborated. Och said the fund remains fully invested. “In the U.S., with an improving economic backdrop, we continue to be cautiously optimistic about growth prospects for the medium term, but we remain patient, thoughtful investors,” Och stated. “We believe the current environment plays to our strengths and our global reach.”
