☕️ Keys to the Castle

What happens to a hedge fund when its king has no heir?

Good morning.

One of the world’s largest hedge funds, Millennium Management is beginning to tackle the daunting task of succession.

With US$60b under management, the New York giant has its work cut out for it. With its founder Izzy Englander telling all and sundry, he has no intention to reitre, Millennium been unable to retain a heir apparent.

Yet at 75 years of age, and following the Bridgewater saga, Englander would be kidding himself if he wasn’t considering what comes next.

ASX as at market close. Commodities and crypto in USD.

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Market movers

Every now and again you entertain the idea that AMP might be able to one day turn it around. Then it hits a new record low.

So it was on Thursday as the once great bank warned margins would be squeezed over the next 12 months.

A $60 million investment in a partnership with Starling to launch a business-targeted neobank did little to steady investor fears.

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The quick sync

  • Following US restrictions on chips, Alibaba has dropped plans to spin off its cloud business. (CNBC)

  • Hyundai will be the first automaker to sell cars on Amazon. (WSJ)

  • Solar panels are becoming Australia’s latest waste problem. (Capital Brief)

  • The meeting of Xi and Biden is delivering small concessions amid improving US-China relations. (Bloomberg)

  • The Magic Circle and White Shoe law firms taking on Australia's Big Six. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

  • EBOS closes in on TPG Capital-backed Greencross acquisition. (AFR | The Australian)

  • Investors are cautious about EBOS Group's potential acquisition of Greencross from TPG Capital. (The Australian)

  • Vinci Group eyes a 74% stake in Queensland Airports Limited. (AFR)

  • Driza-Bone, an iconic Australian brand, could be acquired by Gina Rinehart. (AFR)

  • Perpetual is rumoured to sell Origin Energy shares ahead of vote. (The Australian)

  • Michael Hintze sells the majority stake in CQS to Manulife Investment Management. (AFR)

  • Pacific Current ends takeover talks after GQG and Regal bids fail. (Capital Brief)

  • Brookfield questions AustralianSuper's evaluation of Origin Energy takeover bid. (AFR)

  • Macquarie Capital's Brisbane Airport sale halted, stake may be transferred. (The Australian)

  • Sonic Healthcare is acquiring Pathology Watch. (Capital Brief)

  • Fortescue expands into asset management for green investments. (AFR)

  • Kin Group's buyout bid for Pact Group faces challenges. (AFR)

  • There could be a surprise suitor for James Hardie amid market chatter (The Australian)

  • Catalano Seafood administrators secure buyer, recapitalisation plan to be voted on by creditors next week. (BNA)

  • Viva Energy proposes divestiture in OTR Group acquisition. (Capital Brief)

CAPITAL MARKETS

  • Steadfast plans a $280m equity raising for an Australian acquisition. (AFR)

  • McGrath forecasts a 40% increase in underlying earnings for December half-year. (BNA)

  • Karoon Energy and Steadfast Group launch equity capital raising efforts. (AFR)

  • Macquarie invests $292m in Dutch SAF provider SkyNRG. (Capital Brief)

  • Peninsula Energy plans $50m capital raising for flagship US project. (AFR)

  • Mineral Resources seeks a 5-year exemption from WA onshore gas export ban, following a similar controversial deal in 2020. (SMH)

  • GrainCorp reports an FY2023 net profit of $250m, down from $380m, and announces $50m buyback and 30 cents per share dividend. (Capital Brief)

VC

  • Sitemate raises $7.5m in pre-Series A funding for global expansion. (BNA)

  • Envato co-founders back hardware start-up Refiller in a $1.3m seed round for advanced drinks dispensers. (AFR)

People moves

  • Dominic Emmett to launch eponymous firm, a leader in distressed debt and special situations. (AFR)

  • IGO chairman defends CEO selection after Rio Tinto termination. (Capital Brief)

☝️ Know about a deal or people move we don’t? Hit reply.

Insight of the Week

Momentum crash?
This year has been pretty generous for most stock indexes across the world, but the biggest momentum ETF in the U.S. is having a hard time. While the S&P 500 is up more than +15% since January, $MTUM is up a meagre +1.04%. Could that be attributed to a momentum crash? Hardly so, considering its peers $PDP and $JMOM have risen more than +10% YTD. Then what gives?

The cause of this brutal underperformance probably comes from the fund’s long-criticised rebalancing schedule. While most momentum strategies rebalance on a monthly basis or on an even shorter timeframe, $MTUM rebalances once every six months, increasing the possibility of bad rebalance timing luck and of following trends that are no longer there.


This is not financial advice.

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