By Jennifer Ablan and Matthew Goldstein

(Reuters) – Oliver Chang, head of U.S. housing strategy at Morgan Stanley, who has written more about foreclosed homes as an investment opportunity than any other Wall Street analyst, is leaving his firm to start his own buy-to-rent housing fund.

Chang announced his decision on Monday in a resignation letter he submitted to Morgan Stanley obtained by Reuters.

“Having followed this market for the past several years, I believe it represents one of the most compelling investment opportunities available across all asset classes today,” Chang wrote in a letter to his former Morgan Stanley colleagues.

Chang’s move comes at a time when many hedge funds and private equity firms are raising money to acquire foreclosed homes with the intent to rent them out for several years before selling them as the housing recovery takes hold.

As a recent example, asset management firm TCW, which specializes in fixed-income securities and oversees $128 billion in assets, recently launched the TCW Home Place Partners fund, as an opportunity for wealthy investors to invest in the “housing turnaround” by buying foreclosed homes from banks and federal government agencies.

And Beazer Homes USA, Inc in early May announced Beazer Pre-Owned Rental Homes, Inc. (BPRH)– founded by the company and includes an investor group led and arranged by affiliates of private equity ship Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The Beazer fund will acquire, refurbish and lease recently-constructed, previously owned single-family homes on a large scale in select markets in the United States.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – TCW, a Los Angeles-based asset management firm, is looking to raise up to $250 million from investors for a fund that seeks to capitalize on the red-hot U.S. rental market for single-family homes.

A marketing brochure reviewed by Reuters bills the new fund, the TCW Home Place Partners fund, as an opportunity for wealthy investors to invest in the “housing turnaround” by buying foreclosed homes from banks and federal government agencies.

The new fund, which will require investors to lock up their money for eight years, comes at a time when many hedge funds and private equity firms are raising money to acquire foreclosed homes with the intent to rent them out for several years before selling them as the housing recovery takes hold.

The single-family home fund is one of the first to be offered by a more traditional U.S. money manager. TCW, which manages $128 billion, may be best-known for its wide array of bond mutual funds. A TCW spokesman declined to comment.

The soon-to-launch TCW fund could be an indication that investor interest in foreclosed homes is widespread.

Some of that interest has been spurred by an initiative by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to accept bids from investment groups seeking to buy an initial round of 2,500 Fannie-owned homes in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Bids for the Fannie pools are expected to be submitted by the end of this month.

Big banks also are looking to shed some of their huge inventory of foreclosed homes. I n April, Bank of America took bids for a second round of a bulk sale of foreclosed homes in California, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

By Matthew Goldstein and Jennifer Ablan

(Reuters) – Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has been circling the embattled natural gas company Chesapeake Energy for weeks now.

Shares of Chesapeake rose sharply on Monday in part on media reports that Icahn, the well-known corporate raider, may be about to take a big stake in the company that is under fire for arranging a series of lucrative perks for its founder and chief executive officer, Aubrey McClendon.

On April 30, Icahn talked positively about Chesapeake on CNBC television even though he refused to disclose whether he had repurchased any stock. “I do think Chesapeake is undervalued,” Icahn said.

As of Monday, the shares have lost 38 percent so far this year.

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chesapeake is expecting Icahn, who had held Chesapeake equity positions in 2011, to disclose soon that he has taken a significant stake in the natural-gas company.

Chesapeake itself would not confirm that Icahn would make such an announcement and a representative for Icahn declined to comment. As of late Monday, Icahn had not disclosed any new position in Chesapeake in a regulatory filing.

May 13 (Reuters) – Philip Falcone’s telecom start-up LightSquared edged closer to a bankruptcy filing o n Su nday as the hedge fund manager was far from an agreement with creditors, sources familiar with the matter said.

Falcone has until Monday at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) to reach an agreement or face a default on a $1.6 billion loan, sources said.

Creditors have been negotiating to restructure LightSquared’s 96 percent ownership by Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners.

“The bondholders are asking for conditions they know Harbinger and Phil cannot agree to,” said a source close to the situation.

Falcone did not respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Harbinger and LightSquared declined to comment on Sunday.

Debt holders could have declared a default on the loan, which would have forced a bankruptcy, if there was no agreement by April 30. The deadline has been extended twice.

LightSquared’s future was thrown into doubt in February when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it would revoke its permission to build a high-speed wireless network as tests found risks of interference with Global Positioning Systems.

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sold his $250 million debt holdings in Philip Falcone’s telecom start-up LightSquared [MOSAV.UL], while Falcone continues to negotiate with creditors to avoid a debt default, according to sources familiar with the matter.

News of Icahn’s debt sale comes as remaining creditors agreed to a second week-long extension until May 14 of their talks with Falcone about reducing his firm, Harbinger Capital Partners’ 96 percent equity stake in LightSquared.

One hedge fund representative said some constructive progress has been made in talks that began in earnest between LightSquared and its creditors two weeks ago over a potential default on $1.6 billion of LightSquared debt.

Meanwhile, Icahn, who was seen as one of the leaders in pushing for Falcone to reduce his role in LightSquared, appears to have made a big profit on the sale, according to the sources familiar with the matter.

The investor on Thursday sold his debt for about 60 cents on the dollar after buying the position when it was trading in the low 40-cents range only months before, several people familiar with the matter said.

Two sources familiar with it said the buyer of Icahn’s debt was Sound Point Capital, a small investment firm led by Stephen Ketchum, who formed the company in 2009.

Ketchum previously worked as an investment banker and one of his clients was Charlie Ergen’s satellite company. Similar to LightSquared, Ergen’s Dish Network (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) owns wireless airwaves but has not received regulatory approval to use the spectrum to build a high-speed wireless network.

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sold his $250 million debt holdings in Philip Falcone’s telecom start-up LightSquared [MOSAV.UL], while Falcone continues to negotiate with creditors to avoid a debt default, according to sources familiar with the matter.

News of Icahn’s debt sale comes as remaining creditors agreed to a second week-long extension until May 14 of their talks with Falcone about reducing his firm, Harbinger Capital Partners’ 96 percent equity stake in LightSquared.

One hedge fund representative said some constructive progress has been made in talks that began in earnest between LightSquared and its creditors two weeks ago over a potential default on $1.6 billion of LightSquared debt.

Meanwhile, Icahn, who was seen as one of the leaders in pushing for Falcone to reduce his role in LightSquared, appears to have made a big profit on the sale, according to the sources familiar with the matter.

The investor on Thursday sold his debt for about 60 cents on the dollar after buying the position when it was trading in the low 40-cents range only months before, several people familiar with the matter said.

Two sources familiar with it said the buyer of Icahn’s debt was Sound Point Capital, a small investment firm led by Stephen Ketchum, who formed the company in 2009.

Ketchum previously worked as an investment banker and one of his clients was Charlie Ergen’s satellite company. Similar to LightSquared, Ergen’s Dish Network (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) owns wireless airwaves but has not received regulatory approval to use the spectrum to build a high-speed wireless network.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has sold his $250 million debt holdings in Philip Falcone’s telecom start-up LightSquared MOSAV.UL while Falcone continues to negotiate with creditors to try to avoid a debt default, according to sources familiar with the matter.

News of Icahn’s debt sale comes as remaining creditors agreed to a second week long extension until May 14 of their talks with Falcone about reducing his firm, Harbinger Capital Partners’ 96 percent equity stake in LightSquared.

One hedge fund representative said some constructive progress has been made in talks that began in earnest between LightSquared and its creditors two weeks ago over a potential default on $1.6 billion of LightSquared debt.

Meanwhile Icahn, who was seen as one of the leaders in pushing for Falcone to reduce his role in LightSquared, appears to have made a big profit on the sale, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The investor on Thursday sold his debt for about 60 cents on the dollar after buying the position when it was trading in the low 40 cents range only months before, several people familiar with the matter said.

Two sources familiar with the matter said that the buyer of Icahn’s debt was Sound Point Capital, a small investment firm led by Stephen Ketchum, who formed the company in 2009.

Ketchum, who was previously head of media investment banking at Banc of America, was not immediately available for comment. Nor was a representative for Icahn. A spokesman for Harbinger was not immediately available to comment on the extension.

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) – Creditors of hedge fund manager Philip Falcone’s telecom start-up LightSquared have agreed to extend talks a second week, avoiding a default for now on about $1.6 billion of debt, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The person, who asked not to be named, said on Sunday that talks could continue until May 14 as LightSquared’s debt holders had agreed to extend the deadline.

The person would not comment on specifics around the talks between LightSquared and the creditors, which have been negotiating to restructure LightSquared’s 96 percent ownership by Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners.

Debt holders, including billionaire investor Carl Icahn and hedge fund manager David Tepper, had initially threatened to declare a default on the loan, which would have forced a bankruptcy, if there was no agreement by April 30. Last week, they extended that deadline until May 7.

A spokesman for Harbinger was not immediately available to comment on the extension.

LightSquared’s future was thrown into doubt in February after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it would revoke the start-up’s permission to build a high-speed wireless network because tests had shown that it would risk interfering with Global Positioning Systems.

These systems support crucial services such as aviation safety and military systems as well as devices used in industries such as construction and agriculture.