Overtime that was not for naught! Thanks to labor laws protecting LBBs, Tepper took home $2.2 billion last year. Other people who made some money in 2012: Read more »
Ray Dalio
Bridgewater Ensures Packs Of Wildebeest-Hunting, Risk-Parity-Achieving, Truth-Spreading Hyenas Will Roam Connecticut For Years To Come
By Bess Levin
Bridgewater Associates told its investors that it will launch a new hedge fund this year, and had sold another minority equity stake in the firm to an unidentified buyer to help ensure its long-term viability. Bridgewater described its new fund, All Weather Major Markets, as a variation of its All Weather strategy that seeks to perform in any economic environment. In a Jan. 24 year-end report to investors, the hedge-fund firm said All Weather Major Markets would help ensure that its $65 billion All Weather fund doesn’t grow too large, potentially hurting its returns. All Weather returned 15.3% in 2012, gross of fees, Bridgewater wrote. In the same 304-page report, Bridgewater said it had completed a deal at the end of last year to sell a nonvoting stake in the firm to an outside investor, marking the fourth time the firm made such a transaction. The firm didn’t identify the investor or the size of the stake. “The proceeds of these transactions have allowed us to create a sustainable capital base that is independent of Ray, while remaining entirely employee-controlled,” the Jan. 24 report said, referring to Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio. [WSJ]
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Hedge Funds
Bridgewater Associates To Build A Land Where Humans And Hyenas Can Live In Perfect Harmony
By Bess Levin
A plan to transform a gritty, industrial stretch of South End waterfront into a glassy headquarters for the world’s largest hedge fund came into sharper focus this week, following submission of zoning applications from developer Building and Land Technology. In addition to a five-story, 850,000-square-foot office, the campus for Bridgewater Associates calls for a helipad, a floating recreational barge, a restored estuary and a marina…The heart of the plan is a giant office complex designed by Cutler Anderson Architects. The Washington-based firm previously designed Bill Gates’ private home in Medina, Wash. Made up of two long, curved buildings joined in the center by bridges and paths, the structure is poised to become the most striking presence on the Stamford coastline. The project’s goal, according to the coastal site plan application, is “to house a corporation in an environment that fosters personal interaction and a strong connection to the living world.” [Stamford Advocate, earlier]
Earlier today, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio sat down with Andrew Ross Sorkin for a wide-ranging chat about QE3, China, gold, American competitiveness, monetary policy, and his general outlook on life and the economy. While there are a whole bunch of issues that Dalio could be worried about, his biggest fear? “Social disruptions” that could pave the way for a Hitler-esque guy or girl coming to power. Read more »
On Wednesday, Governor Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut announced that the asset manager would be constructing a state-of-the-art facility along the Stamford waterfront as part of an economic and community development initiative. As part of the program, which will give the firm as much as $115 million in incentives as part of the deal, Bridgewater has also promised to add another 750 to 1,000 new high-level jobs to its current staff of 1,225…The new offices will have about 750,000 square feet spread across two eco-friendly buildings that will front the water in the Harbor Point development area. Bridgewater has promised to clean up the contaminated site and reforest the area, creating a park-like campus for its employees with public access. “We are pleased that the State of Connecticut shares our vision of creating a state of the art and environmentally sustainable office campus, while also restoring this key piece of natural waterfront property in Stamford,” Greg Jensen, co-chief executive of Bridgewater, said in a statement. “We look forward to transforming this industrial site into a spectacularly beautiful forested campus that will be seamlessly integrated into the natural surroundings. The proposed campus will house all of our employees and be designed to facilitate creativity, collaboration and help reinforce Bridgewater’s distinct culture which has been so instrumental to our success.” [Dealbook]
Bridgewater Likes To Hire People Who Have Something To Fall Back On When They’re Fired
By Bess LevinInterest in the subject matter is a minor consideration. Unlike a lot of firms, we look at what someone is like rather than what they did before. We are first interested in people’s values, second interested in their abilities, and least interested in their precise skills. We want independent thinkers who are willing to put aside their egos to find out what is true. Did the candidate come up with a new idea and build it out? Like if when he was 15 he mowed lawns and developed that into a business by getting others to mow lawns with mowers he bought them. –Ray Dalio, “How To Get Hired At Bridgewater” [BusinessWeek, Related: "Firing people is not a big deal"]
A Wildebeest Leaves New York Traveling North At 10 MPH. A Hyena Leaves Westport Traveling South At 15MPH. At What Time Does The Wildebeest Get Eaten?
By Bess LevinAs many of you know, Bridgewater Associates is mega-successful, multi-billion dollar hedge fund guided by Principles, a company handbook written by founder and Mentor Ray Dalio, which instructs employees to go on radical truth seeking missions in order to better themselves and in turn the firm. Bridgewater takes the principles very seriously and each member of the staff is given spiral bound copies to read, highlight, and imbue their souls with. While the idea of Truth above all else is the overarching idea, there are literally hundreds of principles (such as 31a. “Ask yourself whether you have earned the right to have an opinion,” 130. “…Firing people is not a big deal…” and 184. “Use checklists”), which span 123 pages and are broken down into outline form after being explained at length. Though familiarity with them has always been an essential part of the job, there has never been a formal test determining that all employees met the required level of efficiency. Until now. Read more »
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birds
This Is A Story About The Obstacles Ray Dalio’s Former Assistant Faced In Shipping A Bird The Boss Had Stuffed And Mounted After It Was Shot By A Client
By Bess Levin
It was a particularly windy day in Westport, CT and I delicately placed the mounted bird in my passenger seat, gingerly wrapping the seat-belt around its midsection without mussing the feathers. Carrying the bird in and out of the post office and several shipping stores became more hilarious each time. People stared. I smiled back. Finally though, when I’d reached the last place in the area that I could try before getting back to the office on time, I wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. The clerk gave me a look of disbelief when I placed the bird on the counter and I said, “I need to ship this to Japan.” He just laughed at me. I then looked at him sternly and said, “This is no laughing matter. This bird needs to make it to Japan in flawless condition or I will lose my job.” The guy looked back at the bird and then back at me. By then I had used my acting skills and summoned some tears. Finally he agreed to try and crate the bird for shipment. I still don’t know to this day if it made it past customs, but I was satisfied that I had not given up on my task. [Dealbook, related]
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Hedge Funds
The Second-Highest Paid Hedge Fund Manager Of The Year Smoked The Competition From Retirement
By Bess Levin
In 2010, the 10 best paid hedge fund managers made a combined $17.53 billion. To score a place on the list, you had to earn at least $440 million. 2011? The group took home a collective pool of $10.15 billion (down 42 percent) and a mere $210 million got you access to the VIP lounge. So, lots to reflect on today re: how game can be upped this year, whether it’s by coming into work and acting like you actually want it, increasing fees to 5&75, or passing the on the burden of staff salaries to investors. Something else to think about? The fact that Uncle Jim Simons beat all you fools for a second place finish and technically doesn’t even have a job. (Bridgewater Mentor Ray Dalio also did okay for himself.) Read more »
As you may have heard, Bridgewater Associates is a hedge fund committed to probing the depths of any situation until it finds the truth. And, when one makes it his or her business to go after the truth, one must be persistent, and not take no for an answer. For example, at other funds, recruiters would probably not care to find out why any given individual chose not to work them, especially if said person had never even gone through the interview process in the first place, whereas Bridgewater simply rejects your rejection and demands a detailed list of valid reasons why you’ve chosen not to even consider what life could be like with BDubs. Last August, we learned of a Dartmouth student who was paid $100 to “explain why she did not want to work for them” and today, a Yale senior** relates being crammed into a hotel room to do the same. Read more »
The truth, according to Bridgewater, being: 1) the world is going to hell in a handbasket and 2) 2011 will be the Year of the Hyena. Read more »
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Sponsored Content
SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
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