JANA Partners, Barry Rosenstein and Gary Claar’s firm, slowed its losses in June after dropping 5% in May, leaving the firm flat for the year. The JANA Master Fund dropped only six basis points in June, while the AR Event Driven Index fell 0.96%, leaving it up 2.23% for the year.
Despite its losses, JANA is optimistic about the number of activist opportunities, and is particularly encouraged by a recent spinoff by energy company Questar Corporation and a proposed 2011 spinoff at Motorola.
“We have described this market as one of strong event-driven investment opportunities but extremely elevated macro and policy risks,” Rosenstein wrote in a June 2010 investor letter. “In the second quarter, the macro and policy risks carried the day… risk premia have risen because of a federal policy agenda that is increasingly perceived to be anti-business.” According to JANA, the...