seems oddly prescient now.
The brick-and-mortar video-game retailer s stock was the center of a market frenzy that many on one side the Reddit-driven retail traders treated as a game, despite the billions of dollars-worth of chaos the volatility created.
The power of social media hadn t yet been trained on the markets before, at least not on a few targets like that, and the effects have been widespread. Melvin Capital, the hedge fund at the center of it, was forced to turn to Ken Griffin and Steve Cohen for billions to stay afloat.
Robinhood, the online trading platform many of the Wall Street Bets crowd used, tapped its existing investors billions as well, and everyone from Ja Rule to Ted Cruz weighed in when the brokerage restricted trading in the targeted stocks. Market volatility caused by the trading has some investors like Maverick Capital founder Lee Ainslie excited for opportunities while others, like Two Sigma and D1 Capital, are trying to rebound.
Mat Szwajkos/Getty Images; Joshua Roberts/Getty Images; Jason Reed/Reuters; Samantha Lee/Insider This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.
Firms are pushing deeper into sustainability as Biden s administration eyes a stronger ESG approach.
The administration has already ushered in wins for climate activists and may finally look to define ESG.
We asked industry insiders how firms were addressing the rise in socially responsible investing.
This story was originally published on February 9, 2021, and has been updated to reflect ESG-related statements the SEC has made since then.
President Joe Biden s administration has already ushered in wins for climate activists, from rejoining the Paris climate agreement to banning oil companies leases on federal land.
Steve Marcus/Reuters
Another senior Point72 data executive is departing the hedge fund.
Kirk McKeown, who led proprietary research, is leaving to start a business, sources told Insider.
In December, Matthew Granade, who oversaw the fund s data efforts, left amid a firm reorganization.
Another top data executive is out at Point72.
Kirk McKeown, who led proprietary research at the hedge fund, has left the firm, according to people familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Insider.
McKeown, who joined the firm eight years ago and created its Canvas Fundamental Research Group, had been deliberating his departure for weeks and is leaving to start a data and research company, according to the memo.
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7Park Data, which Vista Equity Partners bought for $100 million, is shuttering as a stand-alone alt-data business and being absorbed into the Vista-owned software provider Apptio.
The company has struggled to deal with a new mandate from Vista, the loss of key outside data streams, and client departures, sources told Insider.
In 2017, 7Park had a large client roster including a star-studded list of buy-side firms like Tiger Global, Coatue, and Citadel, according to a pitch deck viewed by Insider.
7Park Data, a darling of the alternative-data boom feeding quantitative hedge funds, is shuttering as a stand-alone business just two years after being acquired for $100 million by the private-equity juggernaut Vista Equity Partners.