Famed hedge fund manager Dan Loeb has been named as one of the headline acts for next month’s Sohn Hearts & Minds philanthropic investment conference to be held in Sydney.

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Mr Loeb, 61, has built a reputation as a fierce shareholder activist and oversees $US11.7 billion ($18.5 billion) at New York-based Third Point. The California-born Mr Loeb founded Third Point in 1995 with $US3.3 million of capital from friends and family.

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His brutal letters to management have become legendary on Wall Street. Some of his best-known activist investments have been in Yahoo, Sony, Sotheby’s, Campbell Soup and lately Shell.

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Third Point is an event-driven hedge fund, and has profited from some macro bets over the years. This includes a highly profitable Greek bond trade after the European debt crisis and taking a position in corporate loans after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

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Mr Loeb told investors in an update in July that he expected the US Federal Reserve to get less hawkish, and although consumers were vulnerable in a mild recession, Third Point had faith in its corporate debt positions.

Sohn Hearts & Minds chairman Matthew Grounds said the event had been trying to convince Mr Loeb to speak since its inception in 2016.

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“We had a top five list and Dan was in that, and now I think we’ve got everyone else on that list.”

Previous headline acts include Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, Oaktree’s Howard Marks, Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway and Bill Ackman of Pershing Square. 

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Fund discount in focus

Mr Grounds said a friend and former UBS colleague, Tommy Anglin, helped broker Mr Loeb’s appearance, and would host the conversation. 

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Event organisers have also scheduled a macro panel that includes Bridgewater’s Atul Lele – a former Sydney-based Credit Suisse equity strategist, The Future Fund’s Ben Samild, and Sheila Patel of B Capital. Dan Rasmussen, the founder and portfolio manager of Verdad, has also been named as a keynote speaker.

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Mr Grounds said this year’s event would have more international speakers than in previous years. The full line-up of speakers has also been finalised. Ellerston’s Chris Kourtis, Tribeca’s Jun Bei Liu and Munro Partners’ Kieran Moore have been added as local managers. 

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London-based Toscafund’s Martin Hughes, Prusik’s Tom Naughton and Metronome’s Sharif el Khazen round out the roster.

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Sohn Hearts & Minds in on track to raise more than $60 million for medical research through conference ticket sales and donated fees from its listed investment company, known as HM1. 

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Fund managers present their best investment ideas to attendees. 

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In 2018, more than $500 million was raised by Hearts and Minds Investments, which invests in the ideas presented. Fund managers forgo their fees, which are passed on to associated charities.

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Although the has LIC delivered stellar gains to investors, it is now trading at a near 20 per cent discount to its net asset value. 

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Mr Grounds and Sohn Hearts & Minds co-founder Gary Weiss said the LIC’s board and the investment committee had taken steps to improve performance and close the discount.

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This article was originally posted by The Australian Financial Review here.

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