emarkhans - are you starding a fund in nyc?
projectplatnyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > emarkhans - are you starding a fund in nyc? Yes, it would be NYC. I posted about it a few months ago (searching my name would find details). It was probably a little early then because realistically it would be tough to pitch with LIII still in play.
Do you have a successful track record, emarkhans? Or more to the point, what do you think your competitive advantage would be as a hedge fund manger? I’m interested in learning more about start up funds and what makes them work and not work. I’m just curious, this is not meant to be a critical post.
Not personally, though the fund I work for has a good one. Competitive advantage is hard to summarize in a few words, but it has to do primarily with my legal/regulatory background, my background in the business, and their applicability to the strategies the fund will pursue – primarily merger arb and what I’d call regulatory arb. It’s a great time for merger arb now; the funds who were doing little more than indexing got their asses handed to them when all the PE acquisitions blew up late last year and, since their money isn’t chasing deals anymore, spreads have widened. (In truth, it’s investment acumen combined with the above, but that has to be proven not talked about. Lack of track record is a temporary phenomenon; lack of talent is more permanent.) The main thing that makes funds work is the ability to raise money and the ability to generate returns which sounds kind of trite, but that’s really it. There are tons of guys out there who can raise money from their existing funds, but can’t perform and there are plenty of funds with bulge names on the masthead that don’t perform. And if you perform and have a solid and dependable infrastructure, the money will follow.