Ken Griffin’s flagship Kensington and Wellington multistrategy funds gained 1.8 percent in October. This brings their gains for the first 10 months of the year to 17 percent. Equities and fixed income powered most of the gains, while credit chipped in as well. The Chicago firm’s Global Fixed Income stand-alone fund was up 0.90 percent for the month, putting it up 18 percent for the year. Its Global Equities stand-alone fund returned 2.3 percent in October and 8.5 percent year-to-date, while its Tactical fund, which is also an equities-based fund, netted 1.55 percent in October and 10.75 percent for the first 10 months.
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Another hedge fund firm seeded by Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson, Jr. is shutting its doors, CNBC reports. Axial Capital Management, founded by Marc Andersen and Eliav Assouline, which at one time managed $1.8 billion, is closing down due to lousy performance. The long-short fund was reportedly down 15.4 percent this year through September, as its shorts tumbled 33.1 percent while its longs rose a respectable 17.6 percent. Axial lost 6.3 percent in 2012, eked out a 0.3 percent profit in 2011, lost 10.2 percent in 2010 and lost 11.1 percent in 2009. In 2012 Bill Hwang’s Tiger Asia, one of Robertson’s first seeds, closed down after it faced regulatory probes in the U.S., Japan and Hong Kong. In late 2012 two Tiger Asia funds pleaded guilty to wire fraud stemming from alleged insider trading of Chinese bank stocks.
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Shares of Marvell Technology surged 8.49 percent, to $13.03, on reports that private equity giant KKR owns slightly less than 5 percent of the semiconductor maker. Marvell has for awhile now been among Greenlight Capital’s largest holdings.
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Hedge fund favorite Hertz Global Holdings beat quarterly earnings expectations. However, the stock plummeted by more than 10 percent after Hertz reported that Simply Wheelz, the owner and operator of Hertz’s divested Advantage brand, had not made payments under its sublease agreements. Hertz said on November 2, it terminated the contracts and is evaluating alternatives.
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Omega Advisors’ Leon Cooperman disclosed a 6.93 percent stake in dELiA’s, Inc., the clothing chain for teen girls. The position is for his personal account.
