Home > The Magazine > Business

Thursday 4 December 2008

Dare to dream and make your ultimate trip a reality

The latest culture as recommended by our staff

Michael Henderson

Michael Henderson suggests

Email registration

Free weekly email update

Great products and special offers for Spectator readers

Click here for great value events

Click here for exclusive articles, offers, tasting notes and discussion

‘Don’t focus on what you can make, but on what you can lose’

David Craig

Wednesday, 11th June 2008

David Craig, a pioneer of the British hedge-fund industry, recalls lessons learned from John Paulson, the New York investor who topped last year’s global earnings league

It is thrilling to see John at the top of the heap of Wall Street moneymakers, and that thrill has little to do with the actual sums involved. Nor is it because we had all our money on this one horse. We have existing or past involvements with others in the Alpha earnings derby: James Simons (No. 3), Ken Griffin (No. 5), Tim Barakett (No. 7), John Griffin (No. 9) and Andreas Halvorsen (No. 10). It is mostly because we have stayed a course together from those early beginnings. We have never seen a reason to sell our modest holding in Paulson Partners Enhanced Fund, and he has remained interested in these two early English supporters, in spite of the fact that we were long ago overshadowed by scores of bigger, grander investors in the expanded range of Paulson funds.

Both Richard and I have kept the Andy Warhol ties John sent us ten years ago that are covered in bold $$$ signs to remind us of what the relationship with his investors was all about. Nevertheless, as a gesture of friendship, we were invited during another US trip to look over the Paulsons’ new Manhattan pad, a pretty swanky family home he had just acquired. He has also splashed out close to $50 million on a property in Southampton — Long Island, not Hampshire.

We’re sad that Melissa left some time ago, but for those fortunate enough to visit John Paulson, her successor Tina seems to have much the same effect. You might even get to meet Alan Greenspan. The outsized investment results are the bonus.

Previous page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

More articles from: David Craig | this section

Print this article | Email to a friend | Permalink | Comment

Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

City Life

Robert Beaumont

At last, a fine statue of Brian Clough — but still not even a plaque for Jesse Boot

The global currency crisis is still to come

Jonathan Ruffer

Jonathan Ruffer argues that state bail-outs in response to the credit crunch could lead to yet another massive shock: a widespread collapse of currencies, and a new inflation

Is gold still a safe haven?

Matthew Lynn

Ingots are just another commodity

City Life

Johnny Reed

In a city of extremes, skyscrapers and teenagers grow taller as shares plunge

‘Business only thrives when society thrives’

Judi Bevan

Judi Bevan hears the views of Paul Myners, the left-leaning millionaire art collector who has just become Gordon Brown’s City minister

Can Comrade Hank find a way through this crisis?

James Doran

The US Treasury chief sees his interventionism as a case-by-case response to unprecedented events, says James Doran, but his critics see it as inconsistent, dangerous and ‘un-American’

The parable of The Golden Calf

Edie Lush

Edie Lush attends the record-breaking Sotheby’s sale of Damien Hirst’s artworks, and wonders whether it is all a metaphor for the recent madness of financial markets

Reasons to be cheerful amid financial apocalypse

Martin Vander Weyer

The interconnectedness and velocity of modern markets make this crash unique, says Martin Vander Weyer. But all is not lost yet: this is a time for cool heads and open minds