Risky hey? City superstar gives up £160million bonus at hedge fund to be his own boss Last updated at 11:24am on 23rd April 2008 Comments One of London’s top City stars is giving up a £160 million “golden handcuffs” share and bonus package to set up his own hedge fund. Greg Coffey has quit London-based GLG Partners to start up his own company enabling him to make money without the constraints of working for another firm. The Australian - who celebrates his 37th birthday this week - is considered such a player in the hedge fund world that shares in GLG Partners plummeted as rumours of his departure circulated. The married father of two, who lives in Clapham, has built up a cult following in the financial markets because of the extraordinary success of the £3.5billion “emerging market” funds that he runs. The funds specialise in investing in the economies in the developing world. His main GLG Emerging Markets fund was up almost 51 per cent last year and 60 per cent the year before, making him one of the two most successful hedge fund managers in the world. But this year he has had a tougher time, with GLG Emerging Markets dropping 5.5 per cent by the end of last month and another nine per cent so far this month, according to investors. Mr Coffey first told his bosses he was quitting on Monday last week but was persuaded to withdraw his notice on Tuesday. He has been locked in talks with founders Noam Gottesman and Pierre LaGrange and other GLG board members ever since but the board eventually decided they could not meet their employee’s terms. He has now decided to stay until October to help his successor settle in but will forfeit £160million of shares that he has been awarded as bonuses. It is expected that he will then set up his own London-based fund. Mr Coffey earns up to £76million a year, making him one of the world’s best rewarded financial superstars. However, like many City high-fliers much of his reward packages are locked up in the form of shares he cannot touch for several years. His departure is a huge blow for GLG Partners, a New York listed fund. Mr Coffey’s earnings are thought to have generated 60 per cent of the company’s total performance fees last year. Yesterday shares in GLG, which fell 15 per cent last week, rose 1.7 per cent in late morning trading to $9.20. GLG said in a statement that, until he leaves, Mr Coffey would “continue to manage GLG funds focusing on investment performance and ensuring continuity for GLG’s clients”. It added: “The best interests of our fund investors has been and will continue to be the primary concern of both GLG and Greg.” The company is now trying to recruit a replacement to take over Mr Coffey’s portfolios, although it is expected to offer investors the opportunity to redeem their holdings if they do not wish to stay. Mr Coffey, known for preferring jeans and leather jackets to suits, graduated with a degree in actuarial studies from Sydney’s Macquarie University and started trading emerging-market equity derivatives in 1994 at Bankers Trust Corp, which was bought by Deutsche Bank AG in 1999. He later became a partner in a George Soros-backed fund and also headed global equity proprietary trading for Bank Austria, according to EuroHedge magazine.
After a certain amount of money, you want things other than money… It’s like sports stars who give up millions to join a contender and win a title.
ooo, good point… i just saw the numbers.
hey can you post the link to the original article ?
Good ol daily mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=561417&in_page_id=1770
thx
"After a certain amount of money, you want things other than money… " like the chance to make even more money. the article said “the board eventually decided they could not meet their employee’s terms”, meaning he wanted more than they offered him. i don’t fault him at all for being willing to make that kind of risk, in fact i applaud him. i’m sure there are things like additional autonomy and other abstracts, things like being your own boss, but being able to fully benefit from his success, instead of paying his boss, i’m sure had a lot to do with it.
How did the Mail get enough room for that story in between Madeline McCann and Diana conspiracy theories?
That newspaper is my guilty pleasure.
storko Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The married father of two, who lives in Clapham, > has built up a cult following in the financial > markets because of the extraordinary success of > the £3.5billion “emerging market” funds that he > runs. > > > The funds specialise in investing in the economies > in the developing world. His main GLG Emerging > Markets fund was up almost 51 per cent last year > and 60 per cent the year before, making him one of > the two most successful hedge fund managers in the > world. > Sounds too me like our friend has been riding the emerging bull market hard, and probably is allowed to use a disgusting amount of leverage, so I’m not that surprised. That said, 51% isn’t something to shake a stick at, so I guess I’ll stop shaking. It’s crazy how much some funds and companies (namely Berkshire) operate as one man’s cult following. What do you think will happen to BRK when Mr. Buffett keels over.
mlh97 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "After a certain amount of money, you want things > other than money… " > > like the chance to make even more money. the > article said “the board eventually decided they > could not meet their employee’s terms”, meaning he > wanted more than they offered him. i don’t fault > him at all for being willing to make that kind of > risk, in fact i applaud him. i’m sure there are > things like additional autonomy and other > abstracts, things like being your own boss, but > being able to fully benefit from his success, > instead of paying his boss, i’m sure had a lot to > do with it. He probably wanted something more than money like the chance to sit on the board. “the board eventually decided they > could not meet their employee’s terms”, I can’t see him demanding more money than 300 million dollars. He probably wanted something much more.
the article said he “will forfeit £160million of shares that he has been awarded as bonuses…locked up in the form of shares he cannot touch for several years”, so it isn’t necessarily the same as cash. i haven’t seen it, but how far down the list of top hedge fund managers would he be with £160million?