Liquid Alternatives / Trends

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio has issued one of his starkest warnings yet about the US economy, likening the country’s $37tn debt burden to an impending “economic heart attack” and urging a return to fiscal discipline akin to the 1990s, according to a report by Fortune.

Multi-strategy major Millennium Management has allocated $4.2bn to two independent hedge fund managers, reinforcing its strategy of seeding top-tier external talent amid surging assets under management, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Investor redemptions from hedge funds hit a 12-month low in July, according to the latest data from SS&C Technologies, with the firm’s SS&C GlobeOp Forward Redemption Indicator falling to 1.56% for July, down from 2.27% in the previous month.

Walleye Capital has joined a growing cohort of elite multi-strategy hedge funds shutting their doors to new investor capital, as the $8bn firm seeks to maintain performance and absorb recent growth, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Activist hedge funds, including Tang Capital Management, are zeroing in on the biotech sector, targeting nearly $30bn in underutilised capital tied up in early-stage drug developers, according to a report by Bloomberg.

New Silk Road Investment, one of Singapore’s longest-standing hedge funds, is winding down operations following declining performance and a major withdrawal of US institutional capital from Asian markets, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Global hedge funds sharply reduced their holdings in Japanese stocks last week at the fastest pace of selling in nearly two and a half months, just ahead of Japan’s upper house election on Sunday, according to a report by Reuters.

Hedge funds have net bearish on the Japanese yen for the first time in nearly four months, ahead of a Sunday’s upper house election, which saw Japan’s ruling coalition lose its majority, according to a report by Bloomberg citing data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Merger arbitrage hedge funds including Citadel Advisors, Adage Capital Management, and HBK Investments, are cashing in on one of the year’s most lucrative event-driven plays, as Chevron’s long-delayed $53bn acquisition of Hess Corp finally closed, according to a report by Bloomberg.