Lahde Quits Hedge Funds, Thanks `Idiots' for Success

I do not really post here often. But this is an interesting read to share with all of you. I’m sure any hedgies here would agree with me. Lahde Quits Hedge Funds, Thanks Idiots' for Success (Update1) By Katherine Burton Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Andrew Lahde, the hedge-fund manager who quit after posting an 870 percent gain last year, said farewell to clients in a letter that thanks stupid traders for making him rich and ends with a plea to legalize marijuana. Lahde, head of Santa Monica, California-based Lahde Capital Management LLC, told investors last month he was returning their cash because the risk of using credit derivatives -- his means of betting on the falling value of bonds and loans, including subprime mortgages -- was too risky given the weakness of the banks he was trading with. ``I was in this game for money,'' Lahde, 37, wrote in a two-page letter today in which he said he had come to hate the hedge-fund business. ``The low-hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. ``All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other sides of my trades. God Bless America.'' Lahde, who managed about $80 million, told clients he'll be content to invest his own money, rather than taking cash from wealthy individuals and institutions and trying to amass a fortune worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. ``I do not understand the legacy thing,'' he wrote. ``Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.'' Request for Soros He said he'd spend his time repairing his health ``as well as my entire life -- where I had to compete for spaces at universities, and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management -- with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not.'' He also suggested that billionaire George Soros sponsor a forum in which ``great minds'' would come together to create a new system of government, as the current system ``is clearly broken.'' Lahde ended his letter with a plea for the increased use of hemp as an alternative source of food and energy that segued into a call for the legalization of marijuana. ``Hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products,'' he wrote. ``Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term.'' Innocuous Plant’ He added, The evil female plant -- marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. Lahde said the only reason marijuana remains illegal is because Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other addictive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers.’’ Lahde graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in finance and holds an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. He worked at Los Angeles-based hedge fund Dalton Investments LLC before founding his own firm two years ago with about $10 million. Lahde wasn’t available for comment. A woman at his firm, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the authenticity of the letter.

Simply amazing…the best read I’ve had in a long time. Lahde for President!

Awesome guy…I am sure he made all his money by shorting these garbage companies.

http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com/2008/10/andrew-lahde-hedge-fund-closure-letter.html

See also: http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,849301 for some additional commentary.

Andrew Lahde, you are the man!

Interesting. I’d be interesting in learning more about this guys background.

Andrew Lahde’s bio in the industry is extensive, with experience in company and industry analysis, particularly in the telecom and business services sectors. As a Senior Research Analyst with Roth Capital Partners, Lahde was instrumental in generating investment ideas and performing in-depth research on individual companies. Prior to joining Roth, he was a Research Associate for the investment bank, Gerard Klauer Mattison, where he covered the wireless sector. As an Investment Analyst at Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management, he focused on analysis of distressed debt and arbitrage opportunities for hedge funds. Lahde began his investment career in 1995 at TD Waterhouse where he was a Relationship Manager in the Institutional Division. He holds an MBA from The Andersen School at UCLA and received his BA in Finance from Michigan State University. He is a CFA charter holder and a member of the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts and the CFA Institute. Source: http://www.bittenandbound.com/2008/10/17/andrew-lahde-letter-lahde-calls-it-quits-at-lahde-capital-management/

Classic. I looked this guy up on Bloomberg today…he is a CFA Charterholder!!

whopee :slight_smile: and he posts on analystforum.com too :slight_smile:

Did he close his fund because he didn’t think the banks have the cash to settle CDS that has Lehman, WaMu, Icelandic banks, etc as reference entities???

ymc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Did he close his fund because he didn’t think the > banks have the cash to settle CDS that has Lehman, > WaMu, Icelandic banks, etc as reference > entities??? Nope. In a nutshell just got sick of the rat race and got out at his peak.

The letter is definitely cool, but it sounds like he’s not comfortable with his own success… or feels guilty or something like that. I don’t know - it’s not a tone of someone who is proud of his hard work and success.

if I saw this guy at a bar I would just send over a beer and say good job. You have to respect someone that is willing to call a duck quite frankly a duck

Betting against the market: +800% return Quitting your job: $0 Dissing the very industry that MADE you: Shameless …for everything else there’s mastercard.

This guy is a jackass.

Reading comprehension.

i hope this is the basis of the new Wall Street movie

Yeah, hopefully they have cut scenes of him taking the CFA exams and posting/fighting on AF (though I think AF might not have been around when he took the exams).

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