gaim

It’s pouring, I’m late again. I jump in a cab. The driver’s friendly and says he’s from Mali. No work there, he sends money going back once a year. But now he’s wavering to return this year. His son wants matching soccer strips with numbers on the back for his team. It’s their passion but he hasn’t the cash and doesn’t want to disappoint. I tell him to go – it’s too important not too. The emotional toll on all these thousands, millions of migrant workers and their families must be crushing. I find myself saying deal is you book the ticket, I pay the strips. I get his number as we draw up to UBS, Avenue Of The Americas.

There, slightly damp I have a lovely relaxed lunch with Alex Erhlich, Global head of Prime Services, UBS. Formerly at Goldman Sachs he is well respected for being tremendously successful at growing the business substantially –and in no small measure for being an extremely nice guy. In a comfy banquette with shrimp salad we discuss the world and markets and life– not forgetting to press him for his favourite thinking spot away from daily travails and commuting. A low jutting crag on his property north of New York City doesn’t really do it justice but it is “simply the perfect place to become centred - from there you can see swamp to one side, forest on the other, and if your are still, grazing deer – just so peaceful and beautiful”.

Last meeting before JFK is with Brian Sears, (ex Merrill Lynch and former Gulf War naval veteran ) now Global Head of Distribution & Development Lehman Brothers covering both the asset management and securities side of the business including the alternatives platform as it relates to hedge funds. What I had not realised was the huge range of internal and external fund and businesses under this umbrella and unlike many other bank asset management businesses they are prepared to grow organically. For Brian, “the big story going forward is commodities (they own leading commodities fund Gresham ) emerging markets “and yes, quant funds such as their “fantastically successful GTAA funds under the brilliant CIO, Wai Lee.”

Madison Avenue. I am very lucky to meet John Paulson, Principal, Paulson & Co, famed for being one of very few funds that correctly read the sub-prime market. To put it mildly his reputation has soared even further than where it was pre-crisis – and the talk on The Street is how did he correctly value the situation when the overwhelming majority of other players large and small, did not? Well, we will all have to wait a bit to hear those insights. But with an office that is a homage to Alexander Calder - one of his (and my) favourite cultural icons, it is clear is that Paulson has also become an icon of clear thinking in our messy financial world.

I have not timed my meetings well this trip and underestimate how long it actually takes from A to B. Rush Downtown to Standard & Poor’s where I meet with Jacqueline Meziani working on a new generation of risk assessment. She is interested in ascertaining who lost and who is taking advantage of the sub-prime situation – how and why. “Valuation is the key and losers in the sub-prime debacle did not read their valuations correctly. Many funds are holding on in fear and valuation techniques are just going have to improve.” While she senses the jury is out on regulation she speaks highly of the Hedge Fund Working Party recently set up in London having a go at self-regulation. Current book at the top of her pile? “The Social Framework of Mediaeval Monasteries” –an old take on pertinent and perennial themes of perception versus reality?. “You got it”.

While there I hop two blocks to catch Kent Clark, CIO, Hedge Fund Strategies of Goldman Sachs fund of fund operation fed only by external managers -and proud new chairman of the board of trustees of New York School of Jazz And Contemporary Music. What interests him at the moment is at the macro asset management business level and the continued concentration of the big firms. “How do you mix the best of what is available in house and externally in a way that is free from conflict of interest within a large asset management house?” - Kent is speaking on this topic at the upcoming Gaim Invest. Favourite thinking spot? “Playing guitar in the basement –well it’s really much more like meditation”

Back Mid-town, I just about catch the train to Greenwich, CT to meet with Brad Williams, ex Goldman Sachs and now Director of Product Development for Tudor Investment Corp, one of President Mark Dalton’s right hand men. We talk about their new strategic directions and upcoming product launches -becoming more institutional than in the past. Apart from being a great opportunity to meet the legendary Tudor Corp, this has been a wonderful excuse to pass through Grand Central Station and wonder at the spectacular barrel-vaulted ceiling with its restored celestial green and gold mural of the heavens. Absolutely stunning. Hope London’s renovation of the Victorian railway masterpiece, St Pancras, will have the same Wow factor in its reincarnation as the new Eurostar terminus. What a difference a grand entrance makes!

Catch conference call with Washington–based Jennifer Johnson Calaris, Head of the World Bank’s Sovereign Wealth Group. It appears that what (Western democratic) states are really afraid of is less democratic states such as China, Russia or Saudi Arabia - with increasing amounts of sovereign wealth, using their clout as political shareholder activists. Which is why she says countries like Germany are (controversially) trying to close the door and pass laws against investment by them… And then understandably get accused of double standards when they let hedge funds free reign…”Our job is to try and understand how the sovereign wealth is evolving and work with the states to come to a consensus over the financial structures needed to manage and disperse it effectively – and safely. While current figures are relatively small it is the rate of accumulation that creates the challenge and the potential imbalances they could create”. Meaty stuff with lots more on the boil.

Over to Park Avenue where with the quest to attract and keep exceptional talent underpins the alternatives industry I meet up with Maureen Brille, MD, The Gerson Group, strategic recruitment, in the hedge fund space. Optimistic, she thinks things are going to look very different come January – “We expect to see a flurry of new hirings, many more strategic initiatives and collaborations and much more deliberation about the optimum size and structure of successful global hedge fund operations. Favourite thinking spot? “Winter’s crashing surf and piping plover at Bridgehampton’s beach NY”.

Caught up with long-time Gaim friend, and another sometime guitarist, Andy Weisman, now CIO Hedge Fund Businesses Portfolio at the Hedge Fund Development Management Group, Merrill Lynch Investment Management. His market concern and research focus is currently how to adjust a portfolio of liquid and illiquid allocations in an increasingly correlated market place across all the asset classes. That’s the key, and he directed me to a new paper on the IAFE website. Andy’s inheritance track? Even if he plays second fiddle to his guitar it’s– “Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin - Elemental, beautiful, challenging yet gratifying to play”.