53 Reasons to Attend the December Family Office Super Summit

The Family Office Super Summit is just a few days away on Tuesday next week in Miami and with 471 registered participants it is almost sold out. (Reserve your seat: http://FamilyOffices.com/Super). I’m sure you don’t need any more reason than the chilly weather to head south to sunny Miami this December, but for everyone else who might need further convincing, here are 53 additional reasons to attend this family office conference in Miami in just a few days: 

53+ Family Office Super Summit Speakers 

1.    Sergio Pedro - Jones Family Office (Single Family Office)
2.    Karl Schade – Presidio Group (Top 50 Family Office)
3.    Frank Häusler - Marcuard Family Office (Top 50 Family Office)
4.    Gary Monroe – Gilder Office for Growth (Single Family Office)
5.    John Jennings – St. Louis Trust Company ($1B+ Family Office)
6.    Leah Zveglich – Aster Family Advisors (Family Office)
7.    Angie Sabel – Abbot Downing (Top 50 Family Office)
8.    James B. Bertles – Tiedemann Wealth Management (Top 50 Family Office)
9.    Michael Studer - Oil & Gas Syndicate
10.    Harris S. Fried – Fried Family Office (Single Family Office)
11.    Candice Beaumont – L Investments (Single Family Office)
12.    Michael Sury – Indorus Holding (Single Family Office)
13.    Thaddeus R. Shelly, III – Tiedemann Wealth Management (Top 50 Family Office)
14.    Sheila Barry Driscoll – President & Co-Founder– Billionaire Foundation (Foundation)
15.    Dan Smith – Neuberger Berman ($250B Asset Manager)
16.    James Cassel – Cassel Salpeter & Co.
17.    Aldo Palles – U.S. Trust (Top 50 Family Office)
18.    Davide Accomazzo – Thalassa Capital (RIA)
19.    Richard C. Wilson – Billionaire Family Office
20.    Russell Deakin – Providence Private Markets 
21.    Lorraine George-Harik – Founding Partner – HPM Partners ($1B+ Family Office)
22.    Trevor Neilson - Global Philanthropy Group & G2 Investment Group (Private Investment Firm)
23.    Eric Munson – NY Based Family Office (Single Family Office)
24.    Anthony Ritossa – Ritossa Olive Oil Family Office (Single Family Office)
25.    Gautam Mahtani – Customer Feedback Systems (Private Business Owner)
26.    Henley Smith – Vanderbilt Avenue Asset Management
27.    Basil Trikatzopoulos – Noah Capital (Single Family Office)
28.    Theodore O’Brien – Billionaire Family Office
29.    Richard Stone – Stone Family Office (Family Office)
30.    Howard Cooper – Cooper Family Office (Single Family Office)
31.    Michael Felman – MSF Capital Advisors (Family Office)
32.    Elliot Dornbusch – CV Advisors (Top-50 Family Office)
33.    Cliff Oberlin – Oberlin Wealth Partners ($1B+ Family Office)
34.    Charles Bennett Sachs – Private Wealth Counsel
35.    Peter Pell – CSM Capital Corp ($1B+ Family Office)
36.    Ira Perlmuter – T5 Equity Partners (Single Family Office)
37.    Paul Smith – NAPLIA
38.    Carol Pepper – Pepper International (Family Office)
39.    Mukang Cho – Morning Calm Management
40.    David Lindahl – The Lindahl Group
41.    Paul de Sousa – Bullion Management Group
42.    Dan Farrell – Privos Capital (Family Office)
43.    Cliff Oberlin – Oberlin Wealth Partners ($1B+ Family Office)
44.    Yvette Connor – Alvarez & Marsal
45.    Julio Gonzalez – Gonzalez Family Office (Family Office)
46.    Patrick Fisher – Promus Capital (Family Office)
47.    E. David Smith – Smith & Associates
48.    David Ratcliffe - U.S. Trust (Top 50 Family Office)
49.    Mark Banieweiz – Socius Family Office (Family Office)
50.    Sebastian Jano – Paradee Resources Company (Family Office)
51.    Jim Fried – Aztec Group
52.    Michael D’Onofrio – Engineered Tax Services
53.    Elie Rieder – Castle Lanterra Properties (Family Office)

See the full brochure for a list of everyone who is speaking, panels, and themes for each day of the Family Office Super Summit here: http://FamilyOffices.com/Super 

Looking forward to seeing you in Miami, 

Douglas Scott
Director
Family Office Club
212-729-5067
Team@FamilyOffices.com
77 Harbor Drive #76 
Key Biscayne FL 33149
http://FamilyOffices.com/Super

What We're Reading ~ 11/25/16

The problem of rational capital allocation [RationalWalk]

Buyside versus sellside [A Wealth of Common Sense]

The long road of proving yourself as an investor [Morgan Housel]

Health equals wealth [Joe Terranova]

How demographics rule the global economy [WSJ]

Tokenization and the collapse of the credit card [Forbes]

Here comes Masayoshi Son [Economist]

On regret minimization [A Wealth of Common Sense]

Why TripAdvisor excels at product [Tnooz]

Marcato Capital Exercises Calls on LPL Financial; Owns 6.4% of the Company

Mick McGuire's activist firm Marcato Capital Management filed an amended 13D with the SEC recently regarding its position in LPL Financial (LPLA).  Per the filing, Marcato now owns 6.4% of the company with over 6 million shares.

This is up from the 550,000 shares Marcato owned at the end of the third quarter and is mainly due to Marcato exercising call options on November 20th at a unit cost of 20 each.

Per Google Finance, LPL Financial is "an independent broker-dealer, a custodian for registered investment advisors (RIAs) and an independent consultant to retirement plans. The Company provides a platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors, including financial advisors at around 700 financial institutions, enabling them to provide their retail investors with objective financial advice. It also supports approximately 4,400 financial advisors who are affiliated and licensed with insurance companies through customized clearing services, advisory platforms, and technology solutions. It provides its advisors with the front-office, middle-office, and back-office support. The Company provides its technology and service to advisors through a technology platform that is server-based and Web-accessible. Its subsidiaries include LPL Financial LLC, The Private Trust Company, N.A., Independent Advisers Group Corporation and LPL Insurance Associates, Inc."

Sohn London Conference 2015: Burbank, Singh, Karsch, Lastra & More

Launched four years ago, the Sohn London Investment Conference is here again.  Hedge fund managers will share their latest investment ideas to benefit the research and treatment of pediatric cancer on December 3.

With the support of the UK investment community, the Sohn Investment Conference has raised more than £53.5 million to date to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. You can learn more about the event and cause here.


Sohn London 2015 Conference Details

When: December 3, 2015 at 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM (GMT)
Where: Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London
Website:  http://www.sohnconference.org/london/


2015 Speakers List

- John Burbank, Passport Capital
- Dinakar Singh, TPG-Axon Capital
- Michael Karsch, Hunter Peak Investments
- Beltran Lastra, Bestinver
- Guillaume Rambourg, Verrazzano Capital
- Carson Block, Muddy Waters
- Mike Wilkins, Kingsford Capital
- Bo Börtemark, Carve Capital AB
- Elif Aktug, Pictet Asset Management
- Bram Cornelisse, Farringdon Capital
- Franck Falézan, PrimeStone Capital
- Robert Harteveldt, Trishield Capital
- Per Johansson, Bodenholm Capital
- Vikram Kumar, TT Long Short Focus Fund
- Selvan Masil, Westray Capital

If you're based in the UK or Europe, this is sure to be a great event benefiting a great cause.

You can register for the conference by clicking here.

Lone Pine Capital Increases Dollar Tree Stake

Steve Mandel's hedge fund firm Lone Pine Capital has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding its position in Dollar Tree (DLTR).  Per the filing, Lone Pine now owns 5.6% of the company with over 13.19 million shares. 

This is up from the 5.13 million shares they owned at the end of the third quarter when they originated the new position.  This latest filing is due to activity on November 13th, 2015.

You can view other recent portfolio activity from Lone Pine here.

Per Google Finance, Dollar Tree is "an operator of discount variety stores offering merchandise at the fixed price of $ 1.00. The Company offers a selection of everyday basic products and also supplements these basic, everyday items with seasonal, closeout and promotional merchandise."

Bill Ackman Boosts Valeant Pharmaceuticals Stake

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square has filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding its position in Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX).  Per the filing, Pershing now owns 9.9% of the company with exposure to 34.11 million shares.

This is up from his previous exposure of 19.4 million at the end of the third quarter.  Ackman bought VRX common stock on October 1st at $178.38 and again on October 21st at $108.13.

He was also active in the options market and this is where the bulk of the increased exposure comes from.  He bought January 2017 $95 calls, sold January '17 $165 calls and also sold January '17 $60 puts.  He also bought and sold at other strike prices and you can view all the transactions here.  Prior to these purchases, Ackman's cost basis on VRX was somewhere around $190.

Shares of VRX have fallen from a high of $260 in August down to as low as $69 recently, before rebounding to $86 currently. 

The company first came under attack as Hillary Clinton and various Democrats publicly voiced concern over pharmaceutical pricing practices.  Secondly, investigative journalists and short sellers questioned the company's relationship with specialty pharmacies, in particular one called Philidor.

VRX has been the definition of a hedge fund hotel for many quarters now.  Another interesting facet here is just how many of these funds held/hold such highly concentrated positions.  Managers such as Sequoia Fund, ValueAct Capital, Pershing Square, Hound Partners and many others have allocated huge chunks of their portfolio to VRX.  While many of these funds' large positions were due to share price appreciation, Ackman's was mainly built via buying earlier this year.

For more on Pershing Square, head to Bill Ackman's comments at the Berkshire Hathaway 50th Anniversary Symposium.

Carl Icahn Starts Xerox Position, Files 13D

Per a 13D filed with the SEC, activist investor Carl Icahn has disclosed a new stake in Xerox (XRX).  Per the filing, Icahn now owns 7.13% of the company with over 72.21 million shares.

The filing contains the standard activist boilerplate that he intends to have discussions with management.

Icahn purchased shares throughout October and November via a forward contract with expiry of July 20th, 2017 at prices between $9.63 and $10.66. 

Those prices contain a footnote that explains: "Represents a forward price of $8.00 per Share, plus the amount per Share the Reporting Person paid the counterparty to the forward contract or minus the amount per Share the Reporting Person received from the counterparty to the forward contract, as applicable, in each case upon entering into such forward contract.  The forward price is subject to adjustment to account for any dividends or other distributions declared by the Issuer. In addition, the Reporting Person will pay a financing charge to the counterparty to such forward contract."

For more on this investor, head to Carl Icahn's recent interview.

Per Google Finance, Xerox is "engaged in offering business process and document management solutions. The Company operates through the following segments: Services, Document Technology and Other. The Company's customers include small and midsize businesses (SMBs), graphic communications companies, Governmental entities, educational institutions and Fortune 1000 corporate accounts. The Company's Services segment provides two types of service offerings: Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Document Outsourcing (DO)."

ValueAct Capital Doubles Rolls Royce Stake

Jeff Ubben's activist firm ValueAct Capital now owns 10% of Rolls Royce (RR.L / RYCEY), according to a regulatory filing with the company.  The investment firm crossed the required threshold on November 18th.

We highlighted when ValueAct initially took a Rolls Royce stake earlier this year.  Back then, they owned 5.44% of the company and since that disclosure shares have fallen around 21% and they've utilized the dip to increase their stake.

The company's new CEO Warren East recently issued another profit warning and is laying out his plans to turnaround the airplane engine maker.

Rolls has been hit in the near-term with its exposure to the oil and gas industry via some of its other business lines.  Additionally, the company has seen some dips in their aerospace segment (especially with its Trent 700 engine) as customers wait for newer, more efficient engines and airplanes to be delivered.

It seems as though ValueAct likes the company's duopoly position in the widebody aircraft engine industry.  However, they're probably looking for the company to improve margins and rationalize their production lines. They've also been pushing for a seat on the board at Rolls, but thus far haven't been granted access.

ValueAct, as a long term investor, probably sees this as an ideal turnaround story and are willing to take the near-term pain as East begins to dig in at the company.  Rolls sells its engines at a loss or break-even but then earns money on service contracts over the lifetime of the engine. 

As RR delivers more and more of their newest engines (on planes such as the Airbus A350) their installed base of service contracts is set to expand dramatically.  The company just has to get through the rough patch until then.

You can view additional portfolio activity from ValueAct here.

Per Google Finance, Rolls Royce is "a United Kingdom-based company that designs, develops, manufactures and services power systems for use in the air, on land and at sea. The Company operates through two divisions: Aerospace and Land & Sea. The Aerospace Division produces aero engines for large civil aircraft and corporate jets and provides defense aero engines and services. The Land & Sea Division comprises power systems, marine and nuclear businesses. The power systems business is involved in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of diesel engines and power systems. The marine business is engaged in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of marine power propulsion systems and aftermarket services. The nuclear business is involved in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of nuclear systems for civil power generation and naval propulsion systems."