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Touradji Capital Management
$140 Million
Paul Touradji’s 13 percent net return on his flagship Touradji Global Resources fund fell short of the overall 31 percent annualized return that New York–based Touradji Capital Management has logged in its four years. It’s doubtful his clients are complaining, however, given how poorly most hedge funds fared in 2008.
Touradji’s fund was down early in the year, even as the 37-year-old commodities sage sounded warnings about what he was widely quoted as calling a “buying orgy” in all commodities, as many investors sought an alternative to stocks and bonds. But he predicted the abrupt correction that occurred in the second half of 2008, and his many short positions paid off handsomely from August through December. Last year was so good, in fact, that Touradji is planning to launch a new macro fund, something few managers are in a position to do.
A 1993 graduate of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, Touradji is the only so-called Tiger cub on this year’s list — last year’s top 25 earners included six graduates of Julian Roberston Jr.’s Tiger Management Corp., where Touradji supervised commodities trading in the late 1990s.
