Weekly Update

Ex-Macquarie Banker’s Activist Hedge Fund Strategy Soars 42%

Managed by former Macquarie Group Ltd. investment banker James Hawkins, L1 Capital's Catalyst Fund has surged by 42% since 2021, boasting assets of $1.7 billion ($1.1 billion). Bucking the trend in Australia's conservative financial landscape, the fund's activism driven strategy, reminiscent of Wall Street's corporate raiders, has garnered attention and success. Beyond takeovers, the Catalyst Fund targets various catalysts for change, from board restructuring to dividend enhancements. Its impressive performance, outstripping the broader market with a 42% return since inception, is accompanied by transparent fees of 1.28% management and 20.5% performance.

South Korea ordered to pay US hedge fund $32m over Samsung merger

A Dutch arbitration court has mandated that South Korea compensate New York hedge fund Mason Capital Management with over $32 million in connection with a dispute arising from the merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015, as reported by Reuters.

Mason Capital Management had originally sought $200 million, but the court only partially supported its claim, acknowledging that its investors incurred losses due to government influence over South Korea’s National Pension Service’s (NPS) approval of the $8 billion merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, both Samsung affiliates. In addition to the $32 million, the court's ruling stipulates that the South Korean government must pay Mason Capital Management an extra $11 million in fees and interest, as stated by the Ministry of Justice.

Vitol CEO Confirms Energy Trading Giant Is Getting Into Metals

Vitol Group has confirmed that it's getting back into the metals trading market after being away for a while, looking ahead to what its CEO Russell Hardy calls an "exciting decade."

"It's a small addition to our business," Hardy mentioned at the Financial Times Commodities Summit according to Bloomberg. This is the first time the company has publicly acknowledged this move, which has been happening over the past six months. Last year, Vitol brought in an iron ore trader, and it's currently in the process of hiring two base metals traders who recently left another company.

Vitol, known as the world's biggest independent commodities trader, is broadening its scope beyond oil, gas, and power. Despite banking over $28 billion in net profits in the last two years, the firm faced setbacks in metals trading in the past, especially with its acquisition of Euromin in the 1990s.