One year ago
»» Texas macro maven Kyle Bass of Hayman Capital Management waxed poetic on global debt woes in his February 2011 letter to investors.
“… My host informed me of an audit recently done on one of the largest hospitals in Athens. This hospital was hemorrhaging Euros, and the Greek government is required to make up the deficit with capital injections. Officials began an inquiry into these losses and found 45 gardeners on staff at the hospital,” Bass wrote. “The most interesting fact about the hospital was that it did not have a garden.”
Bass has since continued providing colorful macroeconomic analyses, as when in November he postulated that the “Pavlovian pro-cyclicality of thought” may have been deluding investors in Greek debt. He also told bestselling author Michael Lewis what he thought more generally of European nations’ fiscal problems: “Here’s the only way I think things can work out for these countries,” he said. “If they start running real budget surpluses. Yeah, and that will happen right after monkeys fly out of your ass.”
Hayman’s flagship fund gained 2% in 2011, compared with a 5.21% loss for the AR Event Driven Index, and lost 1.41% in the first month of 2012. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
See also: Kyle Bass: The hidden bank run across Europe, Kyle Bass is betting on veterans, The zero interest rate policy trap
Five years ago
»» Soros Fund Management veteran Richard Brennan planned to launch a special situations fund at his firm Camulos Capital to make concentrated long-term investments. Camulos then managed more than $2 billion in its flagship credit fund.
That was among the last positive developments to come out of Camulos. A bitter squabble between Brennan and co-founder William Seibold resulted in Seibold departing to start his own event-driven fund. He later sued Camulos alleging that he was muscled out of the partnership and that the firm owed him $67 million. Camulos then countersued, claiming Seibold took proprietary information that he later used to compete against the firm. The litigation is ongoing.
Camulos suffered severe losses in 2008, falling 61.81%. In 2009, while equity markets surged, the fund finished the year down 1.79%, compared with a 16.07% gain for the AR Composite Index. Then in October 2010, the Stamford, Conn. firm announced it was liquidating.
Brennan has since founded Value Recovery Capital, which is described on the firm’s website as “a global alternative investment firm focused on distressed, special situations and deep value investment opportunities.” Neither Brennan nor Seibold responded to requests for comment.
»» Former CNBC anchor Ron Insana was evasive when talking about his new fund-of-funds, Insana Capital Partners. “It’s a registered investment advisor and that’s all I’m allowed to say,” he announced.
His Legends Fund initially attracted about $115 million, but lost 5% in its first 14 months of operation, leaving Insana unable to collect on the fund’s 20% performance fee. Insana closed the firm in August 2008 and joined Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors as a managing director for strategic development. That stint lasted about six months and he then returned to CNBC as a part-time analyst. He is still at CNBC where his online biography makes no mention of his unsuccessful spell in the hedge fund industry.
A CNBC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
