Hunterbrook, an investment firm, has begun hiring financial journalists who will support its research team in identifying deals. The writing room, which will operate independently of the investment division, will search for stories and share them with the hedge fund managers. These will then be used to position themselves for or against a listed company, a country or bonds. Once the investment has been made, the news will be published.
The individuals responsible for this initiative, as revealed by the Financial Times, are U.S. investor Nathaniel Brooks Horwitz and writer Sam Koppelman, both 27 years old. The project has leveraged $10 million in seed capital, which it intends to expand with further financing to reach $100 million.
One of Hunterbrook’s first recruits is Matt Murray, former editor of the Wall Street Journal (one of the world’s most influential business newspapers), who has been hired as a consultant.
While the final operation has not been defined, its promoters indicate that there will be two clearly distinct divisions. Firstly, there is the hedge fund, a type of investment vehicle that has full freedom of action. It can invest against companies or countries, take on debt, concentrate its portfolio on a couple of operations, among other functions. Secondly, there is the news desk of journalists (which will apparently be called Watchdog) and which will focus on reporting.
In order to avoid any legal problems, such as access to privileged information, there will be a legal department between the two business units where all the articles will pass through. This section will be tasked with determining whether a particular story can be passed on to the investment team for a transaction to be completed. Only after the investments have been made should the stories be published.
The modus operandi of hedge funds can sometimes be highly controversial. By shorting companies, they benefit from their value plummeting, and may therefore be eager to discredit a listed company’s business model or governance structure. It is important that their criticism is based on evidence.
