gaim

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!

Manage to catch the always ebullient and friendly Marc Bender, EFX Capital – a unique business model combining family office/ a proprietary trading house. Refreshingly open with an active allocation to over 43 equity managers, Marc is all about finding new talent – early… and hooray in direct contrast to other end investors– loves it when managers approach him with a new idea. So what refreshes? “Any type of travel out of the home zone is so therapeutic it provides the detachment to the day to day chaos of 100s of emails, 100s of calls ..”

Rushing to my next appointment at Blackstone I narrowly avoid being crushed by an extremely large lady dressed in vivid green. Compose myself in time to meet Bruce Amlicke, CIO, Blackstone Group, where we discuss the world, the markets and his take on what’s happening. Classic Western of all Time? A movie buff, Bruce says it has to be Clint in “The Good, the Bad and The Ugly“.

I thought New York addresses were supposed to be dead easy but Bear Stearns Asset Management is a particularly challenging experience with an address on one Avenue and the entrance way over on another. Eventually reach my goal of meeting Jeffry Brown, Head of Strategic Initiatives, Bear Stearns Asset Management. With organic growth of major asset management businesses so hard to achieve, his role is to look for all acquisitions to consolidate their position in the hedge fund space. What interests him is that in the “midst of all the credit crunch carnage market optimism is clearly high as there is no shortage of good teams or companies on the market. “

I drop into to see Marsha Roth, MD, Angelo Gordon, a top league boutique in hedge funds, private equity, real estate and distressed - with an extraordinary reputation for stable teams and an enduring and sustainable culture. “With the dislocation of the credit markets we expect distressed securities to give excellent opportunities in both private equity and the distressed debt hedge fund” she explains. Just back from Egypt, the last leg of a Middle East tour, she was reading “Pharoahs“. ” But I’m never going back to Cairo again” she said firmly.