Weekly round - up.

Berry Street Capital to shut down

According to a Bloomberg report, Berry Street Capital, a hedge fund headquartered in London and led by former Paulson Partner, Orkun Kilic, is set to cease its operations. Kilic cited the challenging regulatory landscape and elevated interest rates as the reasons for the fund's closure. This hedge fund was founded in 2019 and received backing from Schonfeld and Partners Capital. At its peak, it managed over $900 million, employing an event-driven investment strategy.

Upon the announcement of its closure, Berry Street had $575 million in assets under management (AUM) and had incurred losses of 4.2% during the nine months leading up to September, as per the report.

Gold market sees second-biggest ever short covering on record

Short positions in the gold market are decreasing as money managers are ramping up their speculative gross long positions in Comex gold futures. This shift has triggered the second-largest short covering rally on record, as reported by Kitco.

According to the report, money managers increased their speculative gross long positions in Comex gold futures by 10,774 contracts, bringing the total to 104,708, while short positions dropped by 31,096 contracts to 89,605.

The report also highlighted that this change in speculative positioning has taken a notably bullish turn, with a net long position of 15,103 contracts. As a result, gold prices have surged beyond the initial resistance point at $1,900 per ounce.

Global hedge funds are boosting their presence in the long-shunned Indian market

Hedge funds, including Singapore's Dymon Asia Capital and Citadel Securities, are increasing their presence in a market they previously had limited exposure to. Their concern is rooted in tax considerations and the challenges they face in hedging investments through short-selling.

Dymon Asia Capital, with approximately $2 billion in assets under management, is taking steps to obtain an investment advisory license and is establishing an office in Mumbai.

Traditionally, the main drivers of performance within our equities business have been Greater China and Japan

The valuation of India's stock market has experienced a rapid doubling within a span of three years, reaching as high as $3.8 trillion by September. This increased market depth is allowing it to replace China in global investment portfolios as investors seek refuge from the turmoil affecting mainland markets.

Billionaire Millennium founder Izzy Englander thinks there's a hedge-fund talent bubble — not a war

Izzy Englander, the billionaire founder of Millennium, says that there is "a talent bubble" in the industry thanks in part to long non-compete clauses which firms like his own hedge fund Millennium Management, Citadel, Point72, ExodusPoint, and others use to discourage leaving forcing funds to pay more and more for the best investors.

Hedge funds, especially those with substantial quantitative teams like Millennium, have gone to great lengths to retain their talent, aiming to maintain a competitive edge and safeguard their proprietary technology and research knowledge. Over the years, employees have been asked to sign contracts that could prevent them from working in the industry for extended periods, ranging from 15 to 24 months.