Hedge Funds and CTAs

Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson told a panel at an industry conference he “hasn’t been getting a whole lot of sleep lately,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

Hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors says its investment in Cougar Biotechnology—an investment currently under investigation by the SEC—was “perfectly reasonable” and based on publicly available information.

Perry Capital, the distressed assets specialist founded by Goldman Sachs vet Richard C. Perry, has cut staff and is closing its Hong Kong office, reports DealBook, citing two people with knowledge of the situation.

Fortress Investment Group, the U.S. based hedge fund manager with $44 billion AUM, plans to launch a second Asia fund next year.

Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions arm saw it revenues plummet 60% year on year in Q3 2011, to $57.2 million from $94.6 million a year earlier.

Henderson Global Investors has announced that it is closing two of its retail-oriented absolute return funds to new investment—for now—because they are close to reaching their $2 billion capacity.

New York-based Advent Capital Management has added four members to its team in four newly created positions.

BlackRock will launch a UK equities best ideas fund to be helmed by its co-head of UK equities, Luke Chappell.

Alan GraysonFormer Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) is taking his extensive experience with financial markets and the global economy and channeling it in a new business: asset management.

Grayson’s new firm—aptly named The Grayson Fund Management Company—is gearing up to launch its first hedge fund. The vehicle will employ a global, deep value strategy, taking mostly long positions, primarily in emerging markets.

The third quarter was one of the worst ever for the hedge fund industry, with poor performance accounting for approximately $85 billion in losses, according to new data from HFR.