Latest News
Top Story
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, aims to secure $1 billion in equity financing to compete with industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. The company, co-founded by Musk, has already garnered $135 million from investors, as revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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 Latest News
Fintech: deVere Group Cites Big Weekly Jump in Fintech Usage
deVere Group released a report last week that found that the use of fintech apps in Europe grew by 72% in just a week.
The Swiss-based consulting firm said large parts of Europe closed down under quarantine orders. Therefore, consumers turned to mobile and online apps to conduct their personal banking needs and to conduct business. The coronavirus pandemic is likely to cause a global acceleration of fintech usage and product development going forward.
Private Equity: Silver Lake Partners Pushes Massive $16 Billion Fund
Silver Lake Partners is going big with its latest fund.
The technology-focused private equity fund wants to raise a new fund worth $16 billion.
Raising funds as market prices have been collapsing is a solid strategy. It will give the PE an enormous amount of capital to buy companies at distressed prices. With losses mounting in current portfolios, however, one must wonder if institutional investors will step up and make new investments.
DailyAlts Playbook Talks Ackman’s Optimism, The Big “Short-ier”, Carbon Skeptics, and Now That’s Music 29
A number of funds saw massive gains during the breakdown in the market between February 20 and March 20. The latest manager to generate headlines is Kevin Smith at Crescat Capital. His two primary funds earned 40.5% and 34.5% during that period. Smith’s co-portfolio manager compared this selloff and their gains to the book The Big Short. While there are always winners, there are also losers. It appears that Bridgewater and Third Point, both run by dynamic managers, had a tough quarter. Bridgewater’s main fund reportedly lost 20% during the quarter. Dan Loeb’s Third Point had an 11% loss last month. Finally, Glenview shed 30% on paper during Q1.
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.
Private Equity: TSG Consumer Partners Takes Majority Stake in Pathway Vet Alliance
TSG Consumer Partners announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Pathway Vet Alliance. The consumer-focused PE shop purchased the assets from Morgan Stanley Capital Partners funds. The current management at Pathway will remain in place as part of the deal.
DailyAlts Playbook: Mark Yusko, Bill Ackman, Tiger King, and “Bringing Back Paper Bags…”
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK April 3, 2020 Today, the DailyAlts Playbook Talks About Mark Yusko, Bill Ackman, Tiger King, and “Bringing Back Paper Bags…” PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning: Markets are still locked in negative momentum. Oil bouncing to $26. But are we really going to speculate on oil right now? Perhaps… perhaps it’s worth looking at…
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.
Hedge Funds: Steven Cohen Warns of “Tremors” After the Earthquake in the Markets
Steven A. Cohen, the founder of Point72 Asset Management, warned investors to be cautious about the current market environment. The fund manager suggested that the markets haven’t fully recovered from lows fueled by the coronavirus.
The DailyAlts Playbook: College!, Record Unemployment, PE Lobbying Efforts, and Icahn’s Failed Merger
This morning, investors are starting to speculate on the March jobs report set for this Friday from the U.S. Labor Department.
DailyAlts Playbook: Margin Call, the WHO’s Latest Projections, Depression Level Unemployment, and Larry Fink’s Outlook.
Yesterday, the Federal Reserve dropped a bombshell on the markets. According to the central bank, up to 47 million Americans could lose their jobs, bringing the U.S. unemployment rate up to 32%.
Private Equity: Ardian Raises $18 Billion for New Fund
Ardian has raised $18 billion for a new fund to buy stakes in private equity funds. Reports say the European private equity manager could close the fund to new investors as soon as next month.
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.
DailyAlts Playbook: Money Printing, Jams on the 90s, and Why Sovereign Funds are Struggling
The Dow Jones projected a 680-point decline in premarket hours as the markets selloff from a massive three-day rally. The mainstream press is back in cheerleader mode, proclaiming that the Bear market is over, despite the fact that the American economy is effectively shutting down for the foreseeable future.
Hedge Funds: Paul Tudor Jones Expects Stocks to Retest March Lows
Paul Tudor Jones said Wednesday that he expects that the market will push higher by June. However, he expects there to be a very volatile market come April.
In an interview with CNBC, the money manager said that things could get bumpy once we start to look at the real economic impact of coronavirus.
Digital Assets: The Corona Fund Index Cryptocurrency (CFIX) From HashCash
HashCash Consultants are launching a new cryptocurrency, the Corona Fund Index Cryptocurrency (CFIX) in a drive to battle the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The new crypto will launch on April 2 and trade on digital exchange PayBito, as well as other global exchanges. The CFIX crypto is backed by an inverse ETF tracking the S&P500.
The DailyAlts Playbook: Jobless Claims, Ackman’s Short Bet, and “Billion-Airs”
This morning, markets are preparing for a record jump in the number of weekly jobless claims. We’ve seen projections ranging between 1 million and 3.4 million, well above the 281,000 from last Thursday. [UPDATE: U.S. claims came in at 3.28 million this week] This news comes after the U.S. Senate passed a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that includes direct payments to Americans and provides hundreds of billions in support to U.S. industries negatively impacted by the ongoing economic crisis.
Hedge Funds: Did Bill Ackman Make $2.6 Billion on the Coronavirus Outbreak?
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman says Pershing Square Capital earned $2.6 billion by betting that the coronavirus outbreak would pummel markets. The news comes a week after Ackman appeared on CNBC to tell Americans that “hell is coming” for the domestic market.
Private Equity Dry Powder is Ready to Deploy
Private equity managers will likely deploy more than $2 trillion in cash that has sat on the sidelines during the recent carnage and volatility in the financial market.
FinTech: Revolut Expands Across the Atlantic; Dismisses Corona Concerns
Digital “neobank” Revolut, the London-based fintech unicorn, is rolling out its app-based banking service in the U.S. The upstart bank, which commenced operations in 2015, has already amassed over 10 million customers in the U.K. and Europe. Revolut has no physical branches and is entirely app-based. U.S. customers can now open an account with a debit card in minutes using their smartphone.
Alternative Investments: Ares Capital Pens Shareholder Letter on Coronavirus
Specialty finance lender Ares Capital (NYSE: ARCC) sent a letter to its shareholders. The letter aims to calm fears about the impact of the coronavirus.
The Business Development Company’s (BDC) stock is down 57% over the last month as investors have fled the high-risk private lending firms.
Ares Capital Managemen said its portfolio centers on senior secured loans and is highly diversified across 354 different portfolio companies. The firm has concentrated in defensive industries such as healthcare services, software and services, and commercial and professional services, and management feels that gives the loan portfolio an additional margin of safety.
DailyAlts Playbook: March 24 – The Leaders We Deserve, Why Twitter Debates are Worse than Orioles Games, SALT’s Cancelation, and Coronavirus Updates
Global coronavirus cases surpassed 382,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. The ongoing surge in cases has fueled an “unprecedented” collapse in economic activity in Europe during March.
FinTech: Aussie Telco Software Company ZipTel Acquires Financial Wellness Company Douugh Ltd
Ziptel Ltd (ASX: ZIP), an Australian owned and operated telecommunications business that provides international roaming and calling solutions, is changing its business model. It is acquiring the entire share capital of Douugh Ltd, a fintech that helps people achieve financial wellness. On completion of the acquisition, ZipTel’s name would change to ASX: DOU. In this new avatar, ZipTel would become a financial software and services company.
Hedge Funds: Seth Klarman Emerges to Open Baupost Group
Value investor Seth Klarman has emerged from his bearish slumber. The head of Baupost Group announced he had spent $1.5 billion on new investments in recent weeks. Bloomberg reports that Klarman sees significant value due to fears about coronavirus and valuations. The hedge fund manager also announced he is seeking more investor capital for his $29 billion fund.