The Hedge Papers

HEDGE PAPER NO. 50: Corporate America to Investors: Trump is Bad for Business

28 Sep 2017
Corporate America to SEC:  Trump is Bad for Business Since Donald Trump came down the golden staircase inside Trump Tower to announce his candidacy on June 16th, part of his core economic argument has rested on the fact that he’s “really rich” and he’s going to “make the country rich.” At the debates, he argued in simplistic terms that his economic program would spur economic and job creation.... Read More

Hedge Papers No. 49: DAN LOEB’S TAINTED CASH

22 Aug 2017
TRACKING THE HEDGE FUND BILLIONAIRE’S MONEY IN NEW YORK POLITICS Recent events in Charlottesville are a sobering reminder that violent white supremacist groups are not the stuff of history, but a horrifying present-day reality for a country that continues to be torn apart by racism and the legacy of slavery. Though these groups do not claim the membership rolls that the KKK did in its heyday, they have risen to new prominence over the past year, supported by infrastructure like Breitbart News and effectively urged on by a billionaire who owes his presidency to the race lie.... Read More
Hedge Paper cover

Partner Report No. 6 with AFT: The Big Squeeze: How Money Managers’ Fees Crush State Budgets and Workers’ Retirement Hopes

19 May 2017
Introduction Over the last several decades, U.S. public pension funds have undergone a dramatic shift in investment strategy, with traditional stocks and bonds increasingly displaced by “alternative” investments, mainly hedge funds, private equity and co-mingled “real assets.”[1] The typical public pension fund now has nearly a quarter of its portfolio invested in alternatives[2]—structured as private, co-mingled funds that are generally less regulated,[3] more opaque, [4] volatile and, most significantly, charge much higher fees to investors.[5]... Read More

Partner Paper No. 5: The Looting of Puerto Rico’s Infrastructure Fund: Carlos M. Garcia’s destructive fiscal policies hurt Puerto Rico once, could it happen again?

16 May 2017
DOWNLOAD SPANISH VERSION HERE Executive Summary Carlos M. Garcia is profoundly conflicted as a former Santander[i] banking executive in his current role on the PROMESA control board, or the “Junta.” In the years preceding Governor Luis Fortuño’s election in 2008, Garcia built Santander Securities—the bank’s municipal bond business—while Jose Ramon Gonzalez, another Junta member, was at the head of the bank.[ii]... Read More

Partner Paper No. 4 with with Public School Parents in LA: Out-of-Town : Billionaires & Trump Backers Attempt to Hijack Local School Board Election

5 May 2017
The California Charter School Association (CCSA), directly and through its network of entities, has been the biggest spender in the 2017 election for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) school board members to represent Districts 4 and 6, having spent over $4 million to-date.  Nearly all of CCSA’s political campaign funding comes from millionaires and billionaires.  ... Read More

25 Apr 2017

“The hedge fund guys are getting away with murder…” – Donald Trump on August 23rd, 2015 on how hedge fund managers only pay 20% on some of their income by using the carried interest loophole. A tax rate that is lower than the rate what middle class families pay. President Donald Trump on Wednesday is planning to unveil a proposal to cut corporate taxes on U.S....

HEDGE PAPERS NO. 48: ILLINOIS BILLIONAIRES AND THEIR LUCRATIVE LOOPHOLE

19 Apr 2017
How Illinois Can Raise Billions by Taxing Carried Interest ACROSS THE COUNTRY, STATES LIKE ILLINOIS STAND TO GAIN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE BY CLOSING THE CARRIED INTEREST LOOPHOLE. IT’S A LONG OVERDUE ELEMENT OF FINANCIAL REFORM THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO ENACT, DESPITE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR TAX FAIRNESS.... Read More

UPDATE #HedgePapers No. 26 – Puerto Rico: Pain and Profit

21 Mar 2017
UPDATE: After years of crisis and austerity that have resulted in a poverty rate of 45 percent, it’s hard to imagine that conditions could get much worse for the people of Puerto Rico. But if the island’s bondholders have their way, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Puerto Rico is facing a new round of draconian budget cuts that promise to intensify the hardships that the population is already facing.... Read More

HEDGE PAPERS NO. 47 CLOSING A LUCRATIVE LOOPHOLE TO HELP OUR COMMUNITIES

16 Mar 2017
Across the country, states stand to gain billions of dollars in revenue by closing the carried interest loophole.  It’s a long overdue element of financial reform that the federal government has failed to enact, despite bipartisan support for tax fairness. In last year’s Presidential campaign, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Jeb Bush all called for closing a tax break known as the “carried interest loophole,” a legal fiction used by private equity firms and other members off the wealthy elite to lower their federal tax rates below those paid by many working Americans.[1]... Read More

HEDGE PAPERS NO. 46: NEW YORK’S BILLIONAIRES AND THEIR LUCRATIVE LOOPHOLE

7 Mar 2017
How Our State Can Raise Billions by Taxing Carried Interest  Across the country, states like New York stand to gain billions of dollars in revenue by closing the carried interest loophole.  It’s a long overdue element of financial reform that the federal government has failed to enact, despite bipartisan support for tax fairness.... Read More