One year ago
»» Vermillion Asset Management co-founder Chris Nygaard said his $2.8 billion commodities firm was confident heading into the summer, because despite the struggles of some of his peers, the best time to buy is “when there is blood on the streets.”
But Vermillion’s flagship $1.85 billion Viridian fund struggled in subsequent months amid a miserable market environment for commodities funds, dropping 2.86% from June to December (data here), compared with a 3.54% slide for the AR Composite Index. The fund finished up 0.61% for the full year, compared with a 0.79% median drop for the Composite Index. It is down 4.33% in the first four months of 2012, compared with a 3.41% Composite Index gain.
Vermillion spokesman Chris Gillick declined to comment.
See also: True stories from the commodities files
»» Canyon Capital Advisors of Los Angeles had become the 13th biggest hedge fund in the Americas, with $17.5 billion under management in distressed-focused strategies, an AR cover story explained.
“Being in California gives us a little bit of freshness in the way we approach things. While we miss some things because we aren’t headquartered in the middle of Manhattan or Greenwich, I think we pick up a lot more than we lose,” Friedman said.
The past year, Canyon increased its already substantial assets by $400 million, according to the latest AR Billion Dollar Club rankings. Its $7.5 billion multistrategy Canyon Value Realization Fund dropped 3.17% last year (data here), compared with a 0.08% gain for the AR Multistrategy Index, though it has bounced back in dramatic fashion, up 8.50% in the first four months of 2012.
Julis, a keynote speaker at the latest AR Symposium, may be in line for a nice bounce of his own: He recently listed his Manhattan apartment for $26 million, a whopping 152% more than he paid just four years ago.
A Canyon spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
See also: Ex-Canyon exec to launch multistrategy fund with Q Investments seed
Five years ago
»» Jerome Abernathy, the former head of research at $15 billion Moore Capital Management, launched Stonebrook Capital Management’s Alternative Beta Fund to replicate hedge fund index returns without investing in hedge fund themselves.
It began with just $1 million, and when it reached $54 million, Abernathy converted it into a mutual fund. “We came through [last year] with flying colors,” he said of 2007. “That was the litmus test for us, and now we’re ready to roll out to a larger audience.” In late 2009, however, Abernathy had a disagreement with his partners about whether or not to sell the company, and unloaded his ownership stake, he confirmed in an interview. He then joined Rydex SGI, a mutual fund company later bought by Guggeinheim Investments, and is now its managing director of alternative investments.
Stonebrook has since changed its name to Belenos Capital Management, a receptionist at the firm said Tuesday. The aforementioned strategy is now the Belenos Alternative Access fund. Returns were not immediately available.
Velenos spokesman Jeff Dyment did not respond to a request for comment.
See more on mutual funds: Direxion plans billion dollar expansion into hedged mutual funds • First fund of hedged mutual funds debuts • Advisory firm adds hedged mutual funds to platform
