Probably not, considering he seems to lack the same fame-whore sheen as Timbo but you must understand that when any college student is running a hedge fund out of his dorm room, we have to ask. To that end, we should probably wonder aloud to ourselves, is Merritt Graves the next Ken Griffin? And which is a bigger insult (just busting your hump KG, you know we love and have full faith a victory lap is in Citadel's future)? One way Graves, profiled by Institutional Investor this month, is different than the Griffster, Sykes, and other investors who got their start at a young age, II somewhat passive aggressively points out, is that MG isn't some little rich boy whose parents and friend tossed skrilla at and said "have fun." Also, he made money last year.
Graves got $7,000 during his sophomore year of high school from "a local day trader" named Jeff Larson who "saw something special" in the kid. The 7-large was promptly lost, which hurt but made a man out of him. Now, in addition to attending Pomona College, Graves manages Caelum Capital, a five-man $4.7 million long/short equity fund. He returned 174.1 percent in 2007, 40.6 percent in 2008 and, according to II "called the subprime mortgage crisis and its impact as early as 2005 and predicted the severe stresses that hit the banking sector in 2008."
There doesn't seem to be much of anything to make fun of the li'l fella (who in fourth grade baked cookies that he sold in the teacher's lounge until the school shut him down) for, which you know is tough for us, so we'll just make ourselves useful by shilling the kid. If anyone is interested in getting a piece of this (essentially) pre-teen action, and has a few shekels to spare, Big G is looking grow Caelum's AUM to $25 million or so over the next year. No promises on how the investment will turn out but for the time being you can probably expect that you'll probably get a sincere letter of contrition if it turns out badly ("You definitely think about the people you are responsible for and the investors who are counting on you," says Graves). Here's hoping he blows up enough to start sending out "I'm not wrong, the markets are wrong" non-apologies and responding to redemption requests with offers of toxic waste. That's when we'll know he's made it big.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:40AM
How much of his own money is in the fund?
$4.5 mil AUM? I've seen Larry Kudlow go on more expensive coke benders.
Posted by Becky Boot Fan , Jul 01, 2009 11:48AM
Winner, winner, TopRamen dinner?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:51AM
F HIM!!!
Timmay...
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:53AM
I know Merritt! He is a year ahead of me at Pomona and a good buddy of mine.... DB you should run an article on our Pomona College student run hedge fund Sagehen Capital Management. We have over US$1MM in assets.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:56AM
this too will end in tears
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:56AM
Just curious (in light of Madoff et al) - are these performance figures and AUM numbers audited? By whom?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:57AM
Whatever happened to Tim Sykes?! Didn't he shut down the fund and write a how-to book? I'm sure that worked out well...
Posted by Anal_yst , Jul 01, 2009 11:57AM
@6
The Accounting Club does the audits, Marty Finklestein is the guy you want to talk to.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:57AM
@6 by Merritt's kid sister
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:58AM
what's pomona?
isn't that those little rocks you scrape your calloused feet with?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:58AM
I didnt know you would be a hedge fund manager in Sim City now...AWESOMESKIES!
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 11:59AM
@ Everyone here...... his numbers are real. He has an office/trading room in Claremont, CA.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:00PM
I think I'm a damn good trader. I might come to work without any pants and I like to wear a gallon of AXE when I'm "hot", but I'm just special that way.
~Damned Good Trader
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:03PM
pomona - is that where the bus takes the special needs kids?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:04PM
@10 Pomona College is the hardest liberal arts school in the country to get accepted to.... followed by Williams and Amherst.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:04PM
@13 - unless you use the "body scrub tool" you are simply a poseur.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:08PM
@16 more like:
amherst
williams
middlebury
pomona
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:15PM
@17 do your research retard
According to US News:
Acceptance Rates
Pomona 16.3%
Amherst 17.6%
Williams 18.4%
Middlebury 20.6%
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/liberal-arts-search
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:19PM
@18 thats because no one applies to Pomona
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:22PM
@18 thanks for that link, which shows that despite having a lower acceptance rate, the rankings are as follows:
amherst (1)
williams (1)
swathmore (3)
pomono (6)
keep living the dream
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:23PM
Swarthmore?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:25PM
@19..... Pomona gets more applications than any other Liberal Arts School.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:26PM
Except for the organic youth angle, this is an often repeated hedge fund story where someone took a little bit of money, made some crazy bets that turned out right and because they were so crazy paid off huge. And with that now big pot of money, he has a hedge fund to run. But now risk control has to enter the picture. It was a non issue at the start becuase, hey, who would have cared had you lost the $9000 original seed money. Lets see what happends going forward.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:28PM
@15
rank of Pomona?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:29PM
Pomona - is that even accredited?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:30PM
23 = ken griffin
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:31PM
Fuck this little shit.
-- KG
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:31PM
Maybe Gregers could move out with them and do research. Like where is the nearest 24 hour coffee shop.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:33PM
This Pomona argument is hilarious. Do you really think its different academically from the rest of em? The small gradations in acceptance rates mean nothing. The real differentiating factor is that its CA, the others Northeast. People make a lifestyle decision when they apply there.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:33PM
@ 15 - 21
who cares which is the best lib arts college? it's like arguing over which mosquito has a bigger dick; they're all "dalits" compared to a top 10. that said, what this kid is doing is vastly more impressive than the internships/analyst BS that many of us did at his age. kudos.
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Jul 01, 2009 12:37PM
does he clear through pershing?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:40PM
@29 Pomona is not in the best location. The area isn't bad but it's about an hour drive to the beach (without traffic) and it smells like cow shit depending on which way the wind blows.
@24,25 should probably just worry about not hitting their head on the bottom of their boss' desk.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 12:58PM
I went to Brown.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:09PM
is "college kids running hedge funds" that the first sign of a bubble?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:11PM
Hmm, I wonder how many of these posts are the kid's friends who attend Pomona (possibly the kid himself?)...and must defend him and their "vaulted" school!
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:23PM
sheen? grease?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:23PM
it has been suggested that Stephen Hawking stole A Brief History of Time... from Merritt Graves' fourth grade paper.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:25PM
Pomona is no Menlo and we all know what kind of billionaires that creates.
Posted by Anal_yst , Jul 01, 2009 1:28PM
Does Merritt Graves live vicariously through himself?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:28PM
Is "II" taking the beat from "Trader Monthly" now, 30 under 30 making under 30?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:35PM
Regardless of what the future holds for MG, or what the source of his success is, let's leave bigotry and envy aside and focus on achievements here, not on alma matter.
I'm with 30.
Kudos to him! I've met him and he's a stand up guy. He's about my age and I know for a fact that at any age, but specially at this age, very few people would have the character, the skill, and not to mention the humility to do what he's doing.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:36PM
Regardless of what the future holds for MG, or what the source of his success is, let's leave bigotry and envy aside and focus on achievements here, not on alma matter.
I'm with 30.
Kudos to him! I've met him and he's a stand up guy. He's about my age and I know for a fact that at any age, but specially at this age, very few people would have the character, the skill, and not to mention the humility to do what he's doing.
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Jul 01, 2009 1:41PM
DB needs to come with an NC-17 rating
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:51PM
@ 35
"vaulted" = fail
cal poly is no better, you wine-marketing flunky
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 1:54PM
it must be tempting not to take that 4.7 mil and throw the biggest rager Pamona has ever seen.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:06PM
I do not agree Seaman.
So far the insight provided by the, apparently younger, members have more substance and insight than the one you just made.
Of course, we still understand the sentiment behind your NC-17 request. With a name like that, college must have been hell for you. Though, if I may, I'd like to say you did a fine job in becoming as much of a prick as those that picked on you.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:06PM
I do not agree Seaman.
So far the insight provided by the, apparently younger, members have more substance and insight than the one you just made.
Of course, we still understand the sentiment behind your NC-17 request. With a name like that, college must have been hell for you. Though, if I may, I'd like to say you did a fine job in becoming as much of a prick as those that picked on you.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:08PM
I do not agree Seaman.
So far the insight provided by the, apparently younger, members have more substance and insight than the one you just made.
Of course, we still understand the sentiment behind your NC-17 request. With a name like that, you must not have been the most popular kid on campus. Though, if I may, I'd like to say you did a fine job in becoming as much of a prick as those that made it a hellish experience for you.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:08PM
@47 no one agrees with seaman, as he's proven time and time again to be a mentally ill piece of trailer trash.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:08PM
I do not agree Seaman.
So far the insight provided by the, apparently younger, members have more substance and insight than the one you just made.
Of course, we still understand the sentiment behind your NC-17 request. With a name like that, you must not have been the most popular kid on campus. Though, if I may, I'd like to say you did a fine job in becoming as much of a prick as those that made it a hellish experience for you.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:09PM
Ok he turned $7000 into a million or two in a few years with tight stop losses, 2-1 leverage and only stock trading? I can totally see options, but not stocks on 2:1 margins.
Whenever you hear returns like this with simply long/short equity strategies, you attribute high risk & high leverage with it, whether lucky or not. Not uncommon. Yet this article states that he runs a low risk uncorrelated strategy with low leverage.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 2:11PM
If the kid remains happy being small-time, good for him. The 2 & 20 on his targeted $25mm AUM, split 5 ways with his partners, is not exactly baller status. This goes without saying, but the strategies employed by this fund won't necessarily scale well- you don't exactly have to worry about moving the market when your fund's total AUM is smaller than an upper-middle class couple's nest egg.
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Jul 01, 2009 2:12PM
@50
didn't take any lit classes at Faber, did you?
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 3:02PM
@ Seaman
For a supposed old timer you don't seem to be very patient or tolerant. Stop being so bitter.
If you enjoy Literature, you should consider teaching grammar at Faber. Maybe some animal house fun would help you relax so that you don't feel the need to pick on kids half your age for no reason.
Posted by Suits , Jul 01, 2009 3:05PM
Indeed, "Scalable" at $1M is different from scalable at $5M, which is a hell of a lot different than scalable at $50M.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 3:32PM
@51. read again. He turned promptly $7000 into $0.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 4:08PM
53, 54 - keep in mind half of Wall Street have English and Lit degrees. Surprising, I know, but it's the truth.
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 6:31PM
These comments are nothing more than a bunch of bickering by pomona undergrads (defense of school) and old haters (repeated posts).
Posted by guest , Jul 01, 2009 9:53PM
Oliver Stone needs to shitcan Shia and hire Merritt instead. This kid is hot and he might actually know a little somethin' about the stock/bond markets.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=169076512&albumID=195446&imageID=552231
Posted by trojan , Jul 02, 2009 4:12AM
4.7 MM? is that the entire pomona endowment?
Posted by guest , Jul 02, 2009 4:42AM
I would like you to imagine a national coin-flipping contest. Let's assume we get 225 million Americans up tomorrow morning and we ask them all to wager a dollar. They go out in the morning at sunrise, and they all call the flip of a coin. If they call correctly, they win a dollar from those who called wrong. Each day the losers drop out, and on the subsequent day the stakes build as all previous winnings are put on the line. After ten flips on ten mornings, there will be approximately 220,000 people in the United States who have correctly called ten flips in a row. They each will have won a little over $1,000.
Now this group will probably start getting a little puffed up about this, human nature being what it is. They may try to be modest, but at cocktail parties they will occasionally admit to attractive members of the opposite sex what their technique is, and what marvelous insights they bring to the field of flipping.
Assuming that the winners are getting the appropriate rewards from the losers, in another ten days we will have 215 people who have successfully called their coin flips 20 times in a row and who, by this exercise, each have turned one dollar into a little over $1 million. $225 million would have been lost, $225 million would have been won.
By then, this group will really lose their heads. They will probably write books on "How I turned a Dollar into a Million in Twenty Days Working Thirty Seconds a Morning." Worse yet, they'll probably start jetting around the country attending seminars on efficient coin-flipping and tackling skeptical professors with, " If it can't be done, why are there 215 of us?"
By then some business school professor will probably be rude enough to bring up the fact that if 225 million orangutans had engaged in a similar exercise, the results would be much the same - 215 egotistical orangutans with 20 straight winning flips.
Warren Buffett
Posted by guest , Jul 04, 2009 5:26PM
@61,
Too long, did read, best quote ever
Posted by guest , Aug 30, 2009 1:18AM
@ 9 I am not a kid.