Investments
Types of investments
Top Story
Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Investments
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Rejects Elliott Demand for “Proactive Sale”
Alexion Pharmaceuticals will not obey Elliott Management’s demand for a “proactive sale.” The company says that the process of seeking a buyer doesn’t suit shareholder interest. The biotech firm has worked to maintain control of its market share for drugs treating rare blood disorders. Following news that it would not engage in a sales process, the firm’s stock popped on Friday.
Virtus Capital President: Market Could Fall 50% If This Happens
Virtus Capital managing partner Steven Gidumal warned that markets could tank should America elect Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg.
“If a Socialist is Elected, the Market will sell off BIG,” Gidumal said, according to CNBC. “Pick a Socialist – Bernie, Liz, Pete. etc. and the Market would sell off.”
Steve Cohen Looks to Boost Stake As MLB Team Owner
As uber-rich private equity and hedge fund billionaires are homing in on sports franchises, Steve Cohen is negotiating to up his current 8% stake in the Mets to 80%. Cohen paid $20 million for that stake in 2012.
LPL Wades Into Pricing Wars; Axes Platform Fees on ETFs for Advisors
LPL Financial launched a no-transaction-fee, ETF network where advisors can trade ETF’s for free in their advisory accounts.
LPL Financial partnered with three leading ETF providers – State Street Global Advisors, Invesco and WisdomTree to offer the zero fee service from December 6.
Goldman’s Private Equity Clients All Fear a Recession
Goldman Sachs clients are hunkering down for a recession, but are still looking for multi-billion dollar investment opportunities.
Speaking on a Bloomberg interview, Alison Mass, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chairman of investment banking, said: “Our clients are looking to put large amounts of capital to work.”
She added that 30 billion dollar deals were doable – even as high as $80 billion if a strategic partner came in alongside the PE firm.
But what about the risk of a recession?
Rivulet Capital Opposes Thoma Bravo Purchase of Instructure
Rivulet Capital has said it will vote against Thoma Bravo’s purchase of educational software giant Instructure. The firm – which owns 5.23% of Instructure – announced its intention in a regulatory filing.
Global Blockchain Business Council: Asset Managers Still Don’t Get Blockchain
The Global Blockchain Business Council and Janus Henderson Investors have released a new survey this week. The two firms reveal that executives at asset management firms still struggle to understand blockchain technology. The groups interviewed 50 buy-side organizations. From that survey, just 24% of respondents stated that they had an above-average knowledge of blockchain technology.
Apollo Global Management Expands Japan Operations, Appoints Partner
Apollo Global Management is expanding its private equity business in Japan. The firm has also appointed Tetsuji Okamoto as a Partner, Head of Japan, to lead its efforts. His role will center around originating and executing new deals and identifying cross-platform ideas.
Hedge Funds Are Buying Oil Contracts – Have You Noticed?
Hedge funds and oil prices aren’t like water and oil. Just two weeks after hedge funds sold off after an oil rally, they’re buying oil contracts once again. Reuters’ John Kemp notes that portfolio managers have been buying a lot of oil recently.
The Illinois Pension Crisis Goes from Bad to Worse
The Illinois pension crisis just got much worse. According to reports, the state’s unfunded pension liabilities jumped $3.8 billion to $137.3 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2019. The deficit comes despite the fact that the state recorded record taxpayer contributions.
Pershing Square Capital Boosts Stake In Howard Hughes
Pershing Square Capital Management has increased its stake in Howard Hughes Corp., according to an S-4 filing with the SEC. Activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and his firm announced the increase on Wednesday.
Prescott Group Closes Strategies Fund I at $63.4 Million
Prescott Group announced the closing of its first real estate private equity fund. The Prescott Strategies Fund I closed with a total commitment of $63.4 million. The Fund will invest in both real estate-related debt and equity positions. It will also focus on distressed and value add investments.
Mark Wiseman Out at BlackRock
Mark Wiseman found himself in the running to replace BlackRock Chief Larry Fink. Now he finds himself out of a job. Multiple media outlets report that Wiseman allegedly violated BlackRock’s “relationships at work policy.”
High Net Worth Investors in the U.S. (and Their Next-Gen) Reach for ESG
A report by Cerulli Associates says wealthy American investors, as well as their next-gen successors, are considering ESG investing.
High net worth (HNW) investors in the US are increasingly gravitating towards environmental – social – governance (ESG) investment strategies, says Cerulli in their new report.
CBRE Talks U.S. Net-Lease Investment for the Third Quarter
CBRE, the global real estate investment and advisory firm, released the third quarter U.S. Net-Lease Investment Report.
Inland Private Capital Corporation Announces Full Funding of Opportunity Zone Fund
Inland Private Capital Corporation announced the full funding of its first private placement offering by a qualified opportunity fund, Saint Paul Opportunity Zone. The fund will no longer accept any new capital. The fund raised $30 million in equity capital from investors.
Liability Mismatch Strikes Again: £2.5 Billion M&G Property Fund in the U.K. Suspended
Is the Woodford Income Fund saga in replay? Property or unlisted shares – both are hard to sell.
M&G Investments suspended dealings in its £2.5 billion M&G Property Portfolio with effect from midday on Wednesday due to sustained redemption pressure.
Natixis Investment Managers Survey Shows Shift To Private Investments
Natixis Investment Managers has released the results of its survey of investment managers this week.
Natixis surveyed 500 institutional investors, who collectively manage more than $15 trillion in assets. These respondents manage money for pensions, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, foundations and endowments all over the world. The survey measures the investment community’s outlook and concerns for the next year. The key finding in the report is that increased volatility is the top portfolio concern of many investment managers. Most managers see no relief in sight from trade and low yield risks.
Real Estate: Ashford Hospitality Trust Sells 102-room SpringHill Suites Jacksonville
Ashford Hospitality Trust announced the sale of the 102-room SpringHill Suites Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida for $11.2 million.
That price works out to be $109,000 per key. The sales price represents a trailing twelve-month cap rate of 5.9% on net operating income. The deal had a 14.3x Hotel EBITDA multiple.
“Activist Wolf Packs” Could Close in on European ESG Laggards
The A&M Activist Alert is an analysis and predictor of shareholder activism in Europe. A&M used ESG ratings by Refinitiv of 1,300 European companies to segregate them into a ranking of four quartiles. Going back to 2017, A&M looked at each quartile to determine how many of its companies faced an activist attack. A total of 62% of activist targets across Europe since 2017 fall into the bottom two ESG quartiles, observed the study. Companies in these groups are, on average, 24% more likely to face an activist campaign.
Melvin: Private Equity Firms Struggle to Deploy Capital – Now What?
Fundraising by private equity funds will set a record in 2019. As of last month, PE funds have raised $248 billion of new commitments. There were still two months left in the year. Blackstone (BX) had the most substantial raise at $27 billion for its latest fund that closed in September. Advent International raised a $17.5 billion fund that closed in June. And Brookfield (BAM) just announced the closing of a $9 billion fund.
Sequoia’s $3.4B Fund Raise: US-China Politics Take a Back Seat to Opportunity
Sequoia Capital has raised about $1 billion for late-stage U.S. investments and approximately $2.4 billion for venture and growth deals in China.
Sequoia Capital has usually taken the path less travelled when it comes to China. And been handsomely rewarded in the process.
Japan’s Mammoth Pension Fund Will No Longer Lend Shares to Short Sellers
Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) feels a pang of ESG conscience and bans lending its foreign holdings to bears.
The GPIF fund will lose a small but lucrative stream of revenue from stock lending. It said the practice of stock lending lacked transparency. The identity of the ultimate buyer and their intentions are not known, the fund said.
GPIF’s move is said to be triggered by environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, and the resulting need to improve its image as an investor.
Hedge Funds Blink; Private Equity Firms Free to Take Control of Inmarsat
A tense stand-off between activist hedge funds and private equity giants over British satellite company Inmarsat ended up a damp squib.
Activists Oaktree, Kite Lake and Rubric Capital had a change of heart overnight and withdrew their opposition to a deal that would hand over control of Inmarsat to private equity players.
As a result, a judge in London cleared the decks for a private equity group led by Apax and Warburg Pincus to take over Inmarsat in a $ 6 billion deal.