'I'm having a very good crisis,' says Soros as hedge fund managers make billions off recession
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 5:13 PM on 25th March 2009
Comments (14) Add to My Stories George Soros said the current economic crisis has been the culmination of his life's work
A hedge fund manager who predicted the global credit crunch has said the financial crisis has been 'stimulating' and the culmination of his life's work.
George Soros, who predicted the global financial crisis twice before, was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse.
Mr Soros said his prediction meant he was better able to brace his Quantum investment fund against the gloabal storm.
But other investors failed to take notice of his prediction and his decision to come out of retirement in 2007 to manage the fund made him $US2.9 billion.
And while the financial crisis continued to deepen across the globe, the 78-year-old still managed to make $1.1 billion last year.
'It is, in a way, the culminating point of my life’s work,' he told national newspaper The Australian.
Soros is one of 25, top hedge fund managers from across Wall Street who have defied the credit crunch crisis to reap a total of $11.6billion (£7.9bn) last year.
The managers made their profit by trading above the pain in the markets, according to Institutional Investor’s Alpha Magazine.
Former maths professor James H. Simons, who has made billions in hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, earned $2.5 billion running computer-driven trading strategies.
And John A. Paulson, who made his fortune by betting against the housing market, came in second earning $2 billion.
Big hitters: John Paulson and James H Simons were part of a group of 25 hedge fund managers who make a total of $11.6bn
The managers made the profit in a year when losses were recorded at two of every three hedge funds and when hedge funds lost an average of 18 percent, according to the New York Times.
Two of the three managers who tied for ninth place, at $250 million, are based in Britain and include David Harding of Winton Capital and Alan Howard of Brevan Howard Asset Management.
Another Brevan Howard employee Christopher Rokos also made the list.
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The profit comes at a time when the U.S Government is scrutinising Wall Street pay and when hedge funds are facing proposals for new taxes on their gains.
Despite the global financial crisis, the combined pay of the top 25 hedge fund managers still managed to top every year before 2006.
Mr. Paulson said his pay was high, partly because he is the largest investor in his fund and that he did not receive a bonus.
He said the the pensions, endowments and other institutions which invest in his fund do not object to the profits he and his team make.
'In a year when all their other investments lost money, we’re like an oasis,' he said in the Times.
'We have investors who were invested with Madoff, and they can’t thank me enough.'
Alpha Magazine's 2008 Top Moneymakers
1 - James Simons, Renaissance Technologies Corp, $2.5 billion
2 - John Paulson, Paulson & Co, $2 billion
3 - John Arnold, Centaurus Energy, $1.5 billion
4 - George Soros, Soros Fund Management, $1.1 billion
5 - Raymond Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, $780 million
6 - Bruce Kovner, Caxton Associates, $640 million
7 - David Shaw, D.E. Shaw & Co, $275 million
8 - Stanley Druckenmiller, Duquesne Capital Management, $260 million
9 - (tie) David Harding, Winton Capital Management, $250 million
9 - (tie) Alan Howard, Brevan Howard Asset Management, $250 million
9 - (tie) John Taylor Jr, FX Concepts, $250 million
Profiles for hedge fund managers ranked 12 through 25 will be available tomorrow:
12 - James Chanos, Kynikos Associates
13 - Michael Platt, BlueCrest Capital Management
14 - Roy Niederhoffer, R.G. Niederhoffer Capital Management
15 - John Horseman, Horseman Capital Management
16 - Paul Touradji, Touradji Capital Management
17 - Henry Laufer, Renaissance Technologies Corp.
18 - Kenneth Tropin, Graham Capital Management
19 - (tie) Pierre Andurand, Dennis Crema, BlueGold Capital Management
19 - (tie) Christopher Rokos, Brevan Howard Asset Management
22 - (tie) Christian Baha, Superfund
22 - (tie) Christian Levett, Clive Capital
24 - William Dunn, Dunn Capital Management
25 - Andrew Hoine, Paulson & Co.
...
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hero pilot: Airlines in shambles
Capt. Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, the pilot of the unlikely Hudson River landing, says that the airline industry can no longer attract the 'best and the brightest.'
Later this yearEarly next yearLate in 2010In 2011 or after or View results
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who has been heralded as a hero for successfully landing a crippled US Airways flight in the Hudson River, told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that the state of the airline industry is in disarray.
Capt. Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, the pilot of the unlikely Hudson River landing, says that the airline industry can no longer attract the 'best and the brightest.'
Later this yearEarly next yearLate in 2010In 2011 or after or View results
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who has been heralded as a hero for successfully landing a crippled US Airways flight in the Hudson River, told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday that the state of the airline industry is in disarray.
No cheerleader for propping up greenback at G20 summit
Judi McLeod Bio
Email Article
By Judi McLeod Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Is the table being set for One World Government rather than speeding the recovery of the worldwide recession at next week’s G20 London summit?
China has now joined Russia in pressing G20 members for a single world currency. The deadly duo, which has blocked all things America at the United Nations, is calling for the same thing: Dumping the US greenback as the international reserve currency for a new global system controlled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
So far no calls to protect the greenback by the new occupant of the Oval Office.
Judi McLeod Bio
Email Article
By Judi McLeod Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Is the table being set for One World Government rather than speeding the recovery of the worldwide recession at next week’s G20 London summit?
China has now joined Russia in pressing G20 members for a single world currency. The deadly duo, which has blocked all things America at the United Nations, is calling for the same thing: Dumping the US greenback as the international reserve currency for a new global system controlled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
So far no calls to protect the greenback by the new occupant of the Oval Office.
Children of older dads less smart
CHILDREN fathered by older men are likely to be less intelligent than the offspring of younger dads, Australian and American scientists have found in a report published recently.
The research contrasted sharply with earlier studies showing that older mothers produced children more likely to record above average intelligence scores, the researchers concluded.
Lead scientist John McGrath, from the Brisbane-based Queensland Brain Institute, said the result was a world first and had implications for men in western societies who have delayed fatherhood until their 40s or older.
"The offspring of older fathers show subtle impairments on tests of neurocognitive ability during infancy and childhood," he said in the new research.
"In light of secular trends related to delayed fatherhood, the clinical implications and the mechanisms underlying these findings warrant closer scrutiny."
Researchers examined data collected on 33,000 children in the United States between 1959 and 1965 fathered by men aged from 15 to 65.
They found that the children of older dads performed less well in intelligence tests conducted at age eight months, four years and seven years.
The researchers said previous studies had linked older fathers to an increased risk of health problems in their children, including schizophrenia, autism, dyslexia, epilepsy and dwarfism.
However, the study published in the US journal Public Library of Science Medicine is the first to suggest there may also be a link with general intelligence.
McGrath and his team said their research could not draw conclusions on how having an older father impacted on children later in life because the subjects in their study were only examined until they were aged seven.
One theory about the difference in results for older fathers and mothers lies in differences between the male and female reproductive systems.
Women’s eggs undergo 22 cell divisions in the womb, while male sperm cells have divided 150 times by age 20 and 840 times by age 50.
This increased the chance of "copy error mutations" that could lead to health problems, researchers said. – AFP
CHILDREN fathered by older men are likely to be less intelligent than the offspring of younger dads, Australian and American scientists have found in a report published recently.
The research contrasted sharply with earlier studies showing that older mothers produced children more likely to record above average intelligence scores, the researchers concluded.
Lead scientist John McGrath, from the Brisbane-based Queensland Brain Institute, said the result was a world first and had implications for men in western societies who have delayed fatherhood until their 40s or older.
"The offspring of older fathers show subtle impairments on tests of neurocognitive ability during infancy and childhood," he said in the new research.
"In light of secular trends related to delayed fatherhood, the clinical implications and the mechanisms underlying these findings warrant closer scrutiny."
Researchers examined data collected on 33,000 children in the United States between 1959 and 1965 fathered by men aged from 15 to 65.
They found that the children of older dads performed less well in intelligence tests conducted at age eight months, four years and seven years.
The researchers said previous studies had linked older fathers to an increased risk of health problems in their children, including schizophrenia, autism, dyslexia, epilepsy and dwarfism.
However, the study published in the US journal Public Library of Science Medicine is the first to suggest there may also be a link with general intelligence.
McGrath and his team said their research could not draw conclusions on how having an older father impacted on children later in life because the subjects in their study were only examined until they were aged seven.
One theory about the difference in results for older fathers and mothers lies in differences between the male and female reproductive systems.
Women’s eggs undergo 22 cell divisions in the womb, while male sperm cells have divided 150 times by age 20 and 840 times by age 50.
This increased the chance of "copy error mutations" that could lead to health problems, researchers said. – AFP
Monday, March 23, 2009
Part I: Geithner's Plan "Extremely Dangerous," Economist Galbraith Says
Posted Mar 23, 2009 11:08am EDT by Henry Blodget in Investing, Newsmakers, Recession, Banking
Part II: Geithner, Obama Kowtowing to "Massively Corrupted" Banks, Galbraith Says
Posted Mar 23, 2009 12:07pm EDT by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Banking
Posted Mar 23, 2009 11:08am EDT by Henry Blodget in Investing, Newsmakers, Recession, Banking
Part II: Geithner, Obama Kowtowing to "Massively Corrupted" Banks, Galbraith Says
Posted Mar 23, 2009 12:07pm EDT by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Banking
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