Alternative Investments
The global alternative investment space now sits at more than $9 trillion in global assets, and we’re just getting started. Roughly 40% of RIAs are using alternative investments. With the RIA space expanding and alternative investment demand rising among investors – a surge in data, news, and opinion will continue. This channel cuts through the noise to give you the most important actionable insight.
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SP Funds has expanded its suite of Sharia-compliant funds with the launch of The SP Funds S&P Global Technology ETF (SPTE) on the New York Stock Exchange. As North America’s largest family of Shariah-compliant exchange-traded funds (ETFs), SP Funds aims to provide investors access to cutting-edge technological advancements through SPTE.
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Alternative Investments: Bank of America Says Gold Will Hit $3,000
The Federal Reserve will drive gold prices to $3,000. That’s a prediction by Bank of America this week. In a report titled, “The Fed Can’t Print Gold,” the bank sees the yellow metal as a smart hedge against inflation. That price target represents an 80% return from the date of Monday’s report.
Liquid Alternatives: Uranium on a Roll as Supplies Taper; ETFs Trend Higher
Uranium, the radioactive metal used to power nuclear power plants, has gained 31% this year. Its price has shot up because coronavirus lockdowns have forced producers to idle mining operations. Meanwhile, nuclear power plants, designated an essential service, have maintained generation. With production down by a third, a demand-supply gap in uranium is pushing up its price.
The DailyAlts Playbook: The Madness of Shorting Tesla, Expedia’s Capital Raise, the Belt Road Initiative, and “Gooooooold.”
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK April 22, 2020 The DailyAlts Playbook Talks About The Madness of Shorting Tesla, Expedia’s Capital Raise, the Belt Road Initiative, and “Gooooooold.” PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning, Yesterday, I received a text from a close friend who had an idea. He wanted to short a stock that was trading at nosebleed levels, had…
Liquid Alternatives: World’s Largest Oil ETF Halts Trading on Tuesday
The USO Fund LP has halted trading. Yesterday, the fund was largely responsible for pushing WTI May crude prices into negative territory. Crude prices effectively collapsed by 300%.
The United States Oil Fund LP (NYSEARCA: USO) said in a regulatory filing today that it would suspend buying of crude. This action suspends USO Authorized Purchasers from buying new creating new baskets. The WTI May contract expires today.
Alternative Investments: The CAIA’s Blueprint for the Alternative Investment Industry
The CAIA has issued a comprehensive report “The Next Decade of Alternative Investments: from Adolescence to Responsible Citizenship” based on a survey of over 1,000 CAIA members.
The report expresses the Association’s thoughts on the future of alternative investments, as well as its four-point call to action for the industry.
The DailyAlts Playbook: Free Oil, Gold at $3,000, Investment Debt, and Kim Jung Un
On Monday, oil futures fell into negative territory for the first time in market history. With expiration taking place today, producers were forced to pay traders to take crude off their hands at the delivery point at Cushing, Oklahoma. Crude for May delivery fell to negative $37.63 per barrel. This morning, the June contract fell 24% to $15.50, while the Brent crude contract shed nearly 19%.
FinTech: Coronavirus, M&A, and Consumer Expectations Transform Payments
Marjan Delatinne, global head of banking, Ripple, writes in a post in Bobsguide that the payments industry is being transformed through mergers and acquisitions, innovation in technology and the new lessons from the coronavirus.
Alternative Investments: Larry Fink Rejects Bailout Talk During Blackrock’s Q1 Call
Blackrock CEO Larry Fink took umbrage with at a question from Patrick Davitt of Autonomous Research. Davitt asked during a conference call this week if the Fed buying ETFs was a bailout for Blackrock.
Private Equity: BlackRock Reports Earnings for Q1 2020
BlackRock Q1 earnings dropped today.
The world’s largest asset manager reported revenue s growth 11% compared to a year ago. However, profits fell slightly compared to the first quarter of 2019. The asset manager also said that they continue to reward shareholders as they bought back $400 million of share repurchases in the current quarter and increased the quarterly cash dividend to $3.63 per share, or 10%. Earnings of $5.15 a share fell short of the analyst consensus estimates of $6.61 per share.
Alternative Investments: What’s Happening With Shadow Banking
In the Great Credit Crisis, banks took the biggest hit and the lion’s share of blame for the economic collapse.
Banks entered the crisis with too little equity capital. Their loan portfolios consisted of garbage loans. From 2008 to 2012, 414 banks with almost $700 billion in assets failed. Hundreds more had to seek a merger with financially secure institutions.
This time, the banking system enters into an economic slowdown in much better shape.
Alternative Investments: The Latest 13D Filings
Even though Friday was a Holiday, electronic 13D filings continued to flow in the Securities and Exchange Commission. Breaking Down 13D Filings Michael Burry of Scion Capital filed a 13D that did not show an increase in his 5.3% ownership of GameStop (NYSE: GME). Still, he has continued to make suggestions as to what the…
Alternative Investments: Arcardia Faces Criticism for Government Program Investment Pitch
Arcadia Investment Partners faces criticism for an investment pitch that sought to generate returns from government coronavirus programs. A pitch reportedly suggested that wealthy investors could generate 22% to 175% returns through programs designed to help Americans keep their jobs. The programs – largely announced by Congress, the President and the Fed in recent weeks – also aim to boost the economy at a time it is crashing.
Alternative Investments: Airbnb Raises $1 Billion to Address Coronavirus
Airbnb has managed to raise $1 billion to help run the business and pay the bills during the downturn. Most of its properties have shut down thanks to the spread of the coronavirus.
Alternative Investments: The Virus is Killing Uranium Production; An ETF That May Benefit
The price of uranium, during the past two weeks, has bounced higher off its lows by nearly 20%. Mining disruptions may be the cause, and if lockdowns extend for longer, the uranium spot price may go much higher. Value seekers looking to invest in a long-battered sector amidst the damage to the market by the virus may consider a uranium ETF.
Alternative Investments: Latest Activist Investor Filings
Activist investor Julian Singer has used the investing partnership, JDS1, LLC, to accumulate 6.43% of HC2 Holdings, Inc (HCHC).
The target provides construction, marine services, energy, telecommunications, insurance, life sciences, broadcasting, and other services.
Insider Buying Recap: April 6, 2020
As markets sold-off on Friday, we saw two large purchases by activist investors. We saw a lot of buying at MGM and Zagg. In one case the activist had a board seat and is considered an insider. he was joined in aggressive buying by other executives including the CEO and CFO.
Alternative Investments: Kilter Finance Secures $500 Million in Funding From KKR
KKR (NYSE: KKR) is investing $500 million of equity funding in Kilter Finance. Kilter Finance intends to use the proceeds to make investments into an attractive pipeline of investment opportunities, predominantly in the life, annuity, and health insurance sectors.
Alternative Investments: Activists Will Get Busy Soon, Says Tim Melvin
As companies become more undervalued as the economy slows because of shutdown orders across the United States, I expect that the pace of activist activity to increase. We should see more filings later this week as investors hit the deadline to file on shares purchased during the selloff that started yesterday.
DailyAlts Playbook: Activists in a Pandemic, SoftBank’s WeWork Debacle, High-Yield Defaults, and Demon Days
The Dow Futures rallied more than 340 points after a dismal start to the second quarter. This morning, investors are paying very close attention to the weekly jobless claims from the Department of Labor. Last week, the agency reported that 3.2 million Americans had applied for unemployment benefits. Today, that figure reached six million. Economists had expected roughly four to five million people to file for unemployment, with the high range at nine million.
Active Alpha – Insider Buying for April 1, 2020
Here is the latest update on insider buying and activist actions by alternative asset firms. As stock prices were falling once again on Tuesday, we saw more reports of activist investors and private equity funds taking positions in stocks with the intent of influencing management to take steps to improve the stock price.
Alternative Investments: Ares Management Corporation Announces Deal With SMBC Group
Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (collectively SMBC Group) announced a strategic agreement to collaborate on future business opportunities. As part of this agreement, SMBC will make a $384 million equity investment in the publicly traded shares of Class A common stock of Ares.
Venture Capital: Mark Cuban-Backed Company Completes $3 Million Round
Nohbo, a company backed by billionaire Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, has completed a $3M in a Series Seed funding round. Material Impact, a venture capital firm that invests in novel materials that can be used to grow a business and Safer Made, a firm the invests in ways to make existing products safer, led the round. Cuban also participated in the round and added to his initial investment.
DailyAlts Playbook: Commercial Real Estate Woes, Crude Collapse, 2002 Music Reviews, and Ackman’s “Hell is Coming” Defense
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK March 30, 2020 Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks about Commercial Real Estate Woes, Crude Collapse, 2002 Music Reviews, and Ackman’s “Hell is Coming” Defense. PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning: The markets are flat this morning, and my projection this week is that we’re looking at more downside pressure. We are likely heading into…
Alternative Investments: Howard Hughes Corporation Announces Secondary Offering
The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) announced a secondary offering on Friday. The offering consists of two million shares at $50 a share.
The company said it also entered into a purchase agreement with Pershing Square Capital Management.
Pershing Square will buy another 10 million shares. Combined, the two stock sales netted the real estate developer and operator more than $580 million.