SkyBridge Capital Gets Into Incubator Game
From the way he trumpets his own horn, you’d think Anthony Scaramucci, partner at the Michael Dell-backed SkyBridge Capital, invented the idea of a hedge fund incubator. “As the hedge fund industry evolves, the most talented early-stage managers will partner only with those who provide valuable strategic guidance, and not simply seed capital,” he said on the occasion of seeding the first two managers, a media/telecom outfit and a real estate investor. Nice try, dude, but you’re a little late to the game.
SkyBridge Picks First Managers [NY Post]
Stan Puts One Over on Mack with BlackRock Deal
In yet another defeat for Morgan Stanley, the firm’s inability to get a deal done with publicly-traded asset manager BlackRock is looking all the more embarrassing as news of the Merrill Lynch’s success got out this morning. According to The Times, egos and self-interest may have been the spoilers at Morgan Stanley, with Zoe Cruz fearing that BlockRock chief Laurence Fink could trump her to succeed Mack. Meanwhile, a close personal relationship between Merrill’s Greg Fleming (who took BlackRock public in 1999) and the security of Stan O’Neal’s reign greased the wheels in the sale of Merrill’s asset management business. That, and a recognition that The Bull wasn’t exactly kicking ass in this arena.
Merrill and BlackRock Near Deal [NY Times]
Morgan Pursuing Other Asset Managers [Reuters]
Grasping at Stability at Morgan Stanley
The Blackrock deal is dead, reports The Journal. After months of flirtation with the investment firm, Morgan Stanley’s John Mack decided to pass on a deal that would have traded its own asset management unit for a stake in BlackRock, which is 70% owned by PNC Financial Services. Instead, Mack is shoring up his own internal team, removing the word “acting” from president Zoe Cruz’s title while naming veteral banker Robert Scully as co-President. Once James Gorman comes on board next week from Merrill, Mack’s inner circle will be complete. The move was descirbed by an industry analyst as “the lowest risk, safest route to resolving the leadership issue and keeping options open for the future.”
Morgan’s Mack Takes Safe Route [Wall Street Journal]
SAC Capital Raising Another High-Fee Fund
Evidently, investors are still willing to pay sky-high fees to join Steve Cohen’s party. Marketwatch is reporting that Cohen’s firm, SAC Capital, has already inked $2.5 billion in commitments on what will ultimately be a $3 billion fund. For the privilege, investors will tie up their money for three years while paying a 3% management fee and 35% incentive fee, compared to the firm’s last fund which waived the management fee in return for 50% of the profits. The firm’s latest fee balancing act makes sense in light of its lower targeted returns. What a money factory!
SAC Capital Raising $3 Billion [Marketwatch]
Morgan Stanley Loses Another One, From Prop This Time
Geez, is there anybody left at Morgan Stanley? The latest news is that London Prop Trading co-head, Michael Frydman has jumped ship to a gig at UK hedge fund Peloton Partners. Founded in 2005 by three Goldman Sachs partners--Ron Beller, Geoff Grant and Max Trautman--Peloton uses global macro and relative value hedge fund strategies and trades primarily in the fixed-income, foreign exchange and commodity markets.
Morgan Stanley’s Frydman Takes the HF Shilling [FT]
