Daniel Loeb's 11% Loss in 2018 Was Worst Since the 2008 Crisis -- Update
04 January 2019 - 10:04AM
Dow Jones News
By Rachael Levy
Activist hedge-fund firm Third Point LLC lost about 11% last
year, its worst performance since 2008.
The losses deepened in December when Third Point's Offshore Fund
Ltd. dropped about 6% for the month, according to an investor
document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Two other Third Point
funds dropped by roughly the same amount. The 11% annual losses for
those funds were disclosed in the same document.
Third Point, run by Chief Executive Daniel Loeb, is one of the
most prominent hedge funds in the industry. It is known for taking
large positions in companies and advocating aggressively for change
via fiery letters from Mr. Loeb. Some of its recent bets were a big
position in Campbell Soup Co . in 2018 and a large stake in Nestlé
SA during 2017.
Before 2018, Third Point's worst year was 2008, according to a
spokeswoman, when the Offshore Fund fell 33%. Third Point also was
able to earn profits in recent years and raise billions. The firm
managed about $18 billion as of last year. Mr. Loeb founded the
firm in 1995 with $3 million.
Third Point was one of many hedge funds that struggled in 2018.
David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital Inc. lost 9% in December and
34.3% for the year, according to an investor update reviewed by the
Journal. Steven Cohen's Point72 Asset Management LP lost about 5%
from its launch in February through November for some clients, the
Journal earlier reported.
The average fund across the industry lost 2% through November,
according to research firm HFR, compared with a 5.1% gain in the
S&P 500 and a 2% gain in the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund,
which invests roughly 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. Those figures
include dividends. HFR has yet to release performance figures for
December.
The last few months of the year challenged other prominent
funds. A $14 billion fund run by D.E. Shaw Group dropped 2.8% in
November, the largest monthly drop since May 2010, according to a
client update. The fund was up 7.3% in 2018 through November,
according to the update, beating peers.
A D.E. Shaw spokesman declined to comment.
Write to Rachael Levy at rachael.levy@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 03, 2019 17:49 ET (22:49 GMT)
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