Hi. Aaron Weinman here. A corner of the hedge-fund world can't stop talking about one of Millenium Partners' most prominent trading teams. Glen Scheinberg, the portfolio manager whose team has minted billions of dollars for Millenium, became a hot topic on Wall Street.
Let's unpack why.
And don't forget, there's our Banker of the Week!
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1. Hedge funders seemingly can't stop chatting about the fate of Millennium's index-rebalance king. Searches on the Bloomberg terminal for Glen Scheinberg — the portfolio manager whose team has met with much success at Millenium — spiked to 1,300 one afternoon in June.
The source of the intrigue? It probably stemmed from the carnage that was enveloping the index-rebalance trading complex, a strategy that has surged in popularity in recent years.
Scheinberg's team — known as SRBL, for the initials of its founders — are considered Goliaths in this space. The team's success spawned copycat efforts, and the strategy of betting on which stocks will be added and removed from indexes has grown.
But the index-rebalancing act got messy in the last few months. The trade was walloped in the lead-up to the annual late-June reshuffling of the Russell indexes.
The fallout unleashed speculation around the fate of Scheinberg's team — the biggest player in the strategy — and industry participants suspected enormous losses, and rumors spread that Scheinberg might move on from Millennium.
Insider's Alex Morrell takes us inside the intense speculation that has surrounded the performance and the future at Millennium.
And ICYMI - check out this story on how a former Goldman Sachs whiz kid living in Puerto Rico exploited a shift in investing to become one of Millennium's most profitable traders.
In other news:
2. US state treasurers have pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from BlackRock over its ESG policies. Here are the big money managers Republicans are turning to as they crusade against BlackRock and "woke capitalism."
3. Hedge-fund administrator Citco expects $7.8 billion of net withdrawals this quarter. Investors are pulling their money from the industry's biggest names over lousy returns — and young hedge funds are hoping for a windfall.
4. Private-equity firms continue to pour money into advertising agencies. Insider identified 18 firms like Blackstone and Carlyle that are spending big in the space.
5. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Melvin Capital Management, the Wall Street Journal reported. The SEC is looking into the hedge fund's risk controls and investor disclosures after it was crippled by the meme-stock rally last year.
6. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin nabbed $8.5 million in Carlyle stock through an unusually-structured deal, NBC News reported. The transaction, done in 2020 when Youngkin was co-chief executive at the investment firm, was struck in a way where he paid no tax on it, according to a new lawsuit.
7. Apollo has raised its first dedicated fund for large-cap direct loans. The $2.35 billion Apollo Origination Partnership Fund comes as alternative investment managers increasingly step in for banks that are less willing to finance leveraged buyouts.
8. JPMorgan's global head of credit markets and public finance has resigned from the bank. Guy America, who was also the head of JPMorgan's Brexit steering committee, left after 28 years at the bank, IFR reported.
9. Goldman Sachs-backed Casavo has raised $406 million in debt and equity. The real-estate startup can buy homes directly and operates a marketplace for partner agents. Check out the pitch deck the firm used to raise the funds.
10. And here's our Friday Banker of the Week. Meet Kasper Knokgaard, a partner at private-equity firm EQT and global head of its services sector team. He's just wrapped up an investment in United Talent Agency by snapping up Investcorp's stake in the firm.
Knokgaard spoke with Insider about why top talent is the key to success in the competitive film-making industry, and he explained how the deal for UTA complements EQT's earlier acquisition of Cast & Crew, Hollywood's payroll services provider.
Check out the full story here.
Done deals:
- Investindustrial has agreed to buy portions of the meal-preparation business of TreeHouse Foods for $950 million. Lazard and Bank of America advised Investindustrial, Kirkland & Ellis was its legal counsel. Evercore advised TreeHouse and Gibson Dunn was legal advisor. Centerview provided a fairness opinion to TreeHouse's board.
- Fintech-focused venture-capital firm Arbor has formed a partnership with Tokio Marine Asia, a Tokyo-headquartered insurance company. The partnership was established through Tokio Marine's so-called Innovation Lab in Singapore.
Curated by Aaron Weinman in New York. Tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @aaronw11. Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.