By Patrick Clark 9/12/12 4:16pm

Extended courtship

Court Dismisses Fairfax Financial’s $3.2 Billion Lawsuit; Canadian Firm Plans Appeal

A New Jersey Superior Court judge dismissed a $3.2 billion lawsuit alleging that brokerage Morgan Keegan, hedge fund Exis Capital Management and other defendants had conspired to drive down the share price of Canadian firm Fairfax Financial in a ruling issued today.

Fairfax sued Morgan Keegan, Exis and other hedge funds in 2006, alleging that defendants bet against Fairfax stock, then attempted to drive down share prices by engaging in a campaign to spread negative information. While charges against hedge funds such as Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital, James Chanos’ Kynikos Associates and Dan Loeb’s Third Point were dismissed in a series of earlier decisions, the New Jersey court had agreed to consider a portion of the original suit.

After hearing pretrial arguments on various claims for damages, Judge Donald S. Coburn dismissed all charges against remaining defendants, including Exis executives Adam Sender and Andrew Heller, said Mark Werbner, an attorney for Exis, in a phone interview with The Observer. Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/10/12 3:16pm

open books

"I've stepped away from my desk to appear on TV..."

Let the Hedge Funds Speak! Why New Rules On Marketing May Be a Good Thing

Picture this: Hedge Fund Manager X dresses up in his spiffiest suit, endures the ministrations of production assistants and makeup artists and stands before Bloomberg Television cameras to talk about his recent performance and pontificate on his favorite on markets and industries. A few minutes later, a news article contextualizing his remarks flashes across terminal screens, and a few minutes after that, the same news story hits the web, where the rabid lust for any tidbit with said money manager’s name attached gives birth to dozens of blog posts and hundreds of tweets. Maybe the market moves, maybe it doesn’t, maybe the thesis will prove correct.

Forget about those consequences for a moment. Instead picture Hedge Fund Manager Y, sitting at a souped-up trading desk, registering his rival’s publicity hit in some darkened recess of his reptile brain: Isn’t my track record longer than Manager X? he asks himself. Aren’t my ideas better, my assets under management more robust, not to mention I have spiffier suits and a stronger jaw. And then he picks up the phone and calls his publicist, who calls Bloomberg.

Believe us, it’s coming: Once-reclusive hedge fund managers are going to start going on the record with the press. Read More