April 2017 Performance

April was almost a replay of March in which many of the holdings contributed to the positive performance of +4.34%. I will start off with the negatives, which can be summed up with my position in Time Inc (Ticker: TIME). I took a ~5% loss on the position (~6% holding), which in hindsight was the correct move. Last week Time Inc. decided not to sell itself resulting in a ~17% decline. It’s never easy to take a loss, but it’s just part of this game…

Now onto the positives… Many of my large long positions: Apple (Ticker: AAPL), VISA (Ticker: V) and Constellation Brands (Ticker: STZ) performed well. Constellation Brands reported good numbers and an boosted its dividend payout resulting in a nice pop in the stock. Apple and VISA headed to new highs with the market. The position that had the most impact was Syngenta (Ticker: SYT) (~26% position), which finally received the required regulatory approvals and is moving towards a May close.

After Syngenta closes, I won’t have any merger arb / special situation plays, which would be odd! I am doing some work on some merger arb / special situation plays and hoping to initiate some position(s) soon…

In summary, I’m pleased with my year to date performance considering how January turned out. I’ll continue to play it relatively conservative for the remainder of the year. Last year, my performance suffered in the second half of the year as I entered into a couple of large positions that blew up so I’ve learned my lesson.

2017 Performance Year to Date = +15.39% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January -4.50%
February +10.18%
March +5.1%

April +4.34%

Sold Actelion Pharmaceuticals

I decided to close out my position in Actelion Pharmaceuticals (Ticker: ALIOY) at $70.63 generating a net gain of 13.38% (~59% annualized). As the closing is fast approaching, I couldn’t get any clear answer from the ADR sponsor as to what would happen to the untendered ADRs. I didn’t want to be stuck in limbo as this was a relatively large position.

Now that Actelion is gone, my only remaining arb position is Syngenta (Ticker: SYT), which is looking likely to close next month. I’ve been adding to my Syngenta position by selling some Puts.

Sold Time and Akorn

I got stopped out of Time Inc. (Ticker: TIME) today generating a net loss of 5.03%. At this point, I view the risk return as not favorable as the potential take out premium may not much higher than the current price. Everything was looking positive last night with the Bloomberg piece until this morning with the Reuters report. Fortunately, Time Inc. was a relatively small position (~6%) so just a small bump in the road.

I also exited my position in Akorn, Inc. (Ticker: AKRX) generating a net gain of 2.58% (~5% position) so this offsets some of my loss in Time Inc.

April has been a positive month so far, but there’s still a lot of days left...

March 2017 Performance

March turned out to be another decent month with a net gain of +5.1%. There wasn’t a single position that accounted for the gains, but it was rather small incremental increases from the various holdings. I increased my position in Syngenta (Ticker: SYT) to ~ 15% of my portfolio and initiated a position in Time Inc. (Ticker: TIME) (~ 6% position). My only other arb play is Actelion (Ticker: ALIOY), which is on track to close in Q2. I continue to play things conservatively for the time being as I patiently wait to pounce on a favorable risk reward merger arb / special situation play.

March update was brief as there was really not much to report on my part. Hopefully, I can report on some new ideas / positions in April…

2017 Performance Year to Date = +10.59% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January -4.50%
February +10.18%
March +5.1%