One year ago
»» Clarium was in freefall. The firm’s ill-timed re-entry into equities led to a decline of 4.5% in 2008. Its bearish stance took Clarium’s flagship macro fund down a further 25.2% in 2009, bringing assets at Peter Thiel’s firm to $1.4 billion in January 2010, down from a midyear peak of $7.35 billion in July 2008. Thiel’s downward spiral has continued. The flagship fund plummeted about 23% in 2010, leaving firmwide assets at $681 million by year-end. As of April 2011, the majority of the firm’s assets were partner capital.
Thiel’s private equity bets have done better—he was an early stage investor in PayPal and Facebook. Since forming Clarium in October 2002, the macro fund has produced a net annualized return of about 12%. A spokesman declined to comment.
»» Hans Haywood, previously an emerging markets manager at the defunct Sailfish Capital Partners, formed Panda Global Advisors alongside former Credit Suisse colleagues Mark Landis and Jason Rok. They launched the Panda Global Master Fund, an emerging markets macro fund, on April 1 with $20 million.
As of April 2011, the trio was in the process of winding down the firm and liquidating the fund, the reasons for which could not be ascertained. Haywood, Landis and Rok declined to comment.
Five years ago
»» Outspoken activist Daniel Loeb began a proxy fight with Massey Energy, the largest miner of Central Appalachian coal. Amongst many grievances, Loeb questioned the need for the company’s Challenger 601 luxury jet, used primarily by chief executive Donald Blankenship. Loeb felt that the jet, which had a 3,000-mile range, seemed unnecessary for a company with businesses located solely in Central Appalachia. “If elected to the board of directors, we will urge the board to get rid of the Challenger 601 luxury jet and review the use of the other aircraft,” Loeb wrote in a letter to shareholders. “We think a good place to put the cost savings from the luxury jet would be a program to reward and retain the company’s miners.” Just two months later, Loeb secured two board seats. By June 2006, Third Point owned 5.9% of the company’s stock.
In 2007, a mild winter hurt coal prices and knocked down the stock, leaving Loeb with significant losses. In June 2007, Loeb stepped down from the board and divested soon afterwards.
But Loeb re-invested in Massey in January 2011, just before a January 29 announcement in which Alpha Natural Resources agreed to purchase the company, sending Massey’s shares from $52.71 to $64.75 within two days. In a January performance update, Third Point cited its stake in Massey as one of its top winners for that month. The firm declined to comment.
