04/01/2012 Author: Will Wainewright

HFMWeek Daily Snapshot - 4 January

NEWSPAPERS AND WIRES
Citigroup Inc.'s Singapore unit sued Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager Raghavendran Rajaraman, seeking to recoup $1.03m in trading losses the bank says he incurred after gold fell from a record high in September, reports Bloomberg. Rajaraman had $19.2m worth of gold in his account on 23 September which the bank sold, along with other collateral, on 26 September “in the face of a rapidly deteriorating market,” leaving a $1m shortfall, according to an 18 November lawsuit filed with the Singapore High Court. The first closed hearing is scheduled for 27 January.

Eddie Lampert, one of America's wealthiest hedge fund managers, is battling to save Sears after one of the country's oldest department chains saw sales plunge over Christmas, writes the Telegraph. A week after Sears reported that its sales tumbled more than 5% in the run-up to Christmas, the chain parachuted in a new chief merchandising officer, Ron Boire, to inject more retail experience into the company's senior management. Lampert, whose fortune is estimated at $3bn (£1.9bn), took a bold gamble in 2005 when he combined Sears and discount retailer K-Mart into one company.

The year ahead will see the strongest net flows into the hedge fund sector since 2007, according to an upbeat series of predictions issued by a leading hedge fund consulting firm. Agecroft Partners, which also offers third party marketing services, said pensions funds will be the “largest contributor” to asset growth and based its claims on “conversations with more than 300 hedge fund organizations and 2,000 institutional investors during 2011”.

The hedge fund run by “black box” pioneer David Harding has emerged as one of the few major winners after a dire year for the industry, writes City AM. Winton Capital’s futures fund returned 6.3% in 2011, according to provisional figures seen by City AM. This contrasts with the average hedge fund’s 4.45% fall, according to Hedge Fund Research figures for the period to 15 December. 

LAUNCHES
Arrowhawk Capital Partners' Jennifer Fan will start Arbalet Capital on 1 April with at least $500m, according to two people with knowledge of the hedge fund manager's plan, Bloomberg writes. Arbalet, based in Darien, Connecticut, will employ the same commodities swaps trading strategy that Fan and her team have used since September 2009, said one of the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

PEOPLE MOVES
KBW Inc., a boutique that advises financial institutions, added James Harasimowicz and Joseph Gulash as managing directors in depository investment banking, says Bloomberg. Harasimowicz is rejoining KBW where he was a principal and is expected to become head of the firm’s Chicago office in early 2012, New York-based KBW said today in a statement. He was most recently a founder of Longview Partners, a hedge fund specialising in financial services, according to the statement.