Paulson And Co Investors Pleasantly Surprised By Fund Only Being Hit With $2 Billion In Redemptions

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Paulson and Company has had a tough couplea months. The firm has been on the receiving end of a lot of shit, none of it really due but mostly thanks to a certain Frenchman and his blood-sucking overlords dragging the hedge fund's name into the press and June didn't go so amazingly as it relates to making money. But! There is some good news to report which that P&C's assets under management only fell to to $30.9 billion, down from $33.1 billion, leaving investors with something to smile about.

“The redemptions are lower than I would have personally expected,” one fund of funds investor told Absolute Return. Another added that the the ABACUS crap is just noise, that the mud-slingers can suck it and that he's stickin' with JP. “We’ve tried to stay away from the gossip and just stick to the facts,” he said. “We’ve looked into the facts, and so far we’re comfortable with the fact pattern,” he said.

Nevertheless, someone seems to be a bit more panicked.

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So Long As John Paulson Doesn't Work Up The Nerve To Send That Redemption Letter To A Certain Hedge Fund Located At 1251 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020, Paulson & Co. Will Be Around For Years To Come

Was 2011 a very kind year to John Paulson? No, it was not. Is 2012 shaping up to be any different? Not really, no. His proclamation that last year's losses were but an “aberration” has not exactly been backed by the fact that AP was down 16 percent through June, Morgan Stanley’s prime brokerage put Paulson and Co. on a list of firms it warns clients not to invest with, and a few clients have not only quit the fund but told anybody who will listen that leaving was one of the best decisions they've ever made. Also not great is the fact that assets under management have declined 44.9 percent to $17 billion from $38.1 billion, due to a combination of unfortunate performance and redemptions. Happily, though, there is a silver lining that perhaps few people have thought of, namely that John Paulson's got mucho of his own dinero in the firm and he hasn't given up on the place yet. ...the firm has a saving grace: About 60%, or $12.6 billion of June 30 assets are from employees. Observers said it is impossible to know how much of that employee asset pool belongs to John Paulson, the firm's founder and president, but they speculate it is the vast majority. (By contrast, about 31% or 32% of Paulson & Co.'s assets are from institutional investors.) One source said the hedge fund manager's size at its peak — before the performance decline — combined with the high percentage of employee capital have insulated Paulson from the crippling impacts that performance declines of this size and client redemptions would wreak on other firms. “It's impossible for any other hedge fund firm to lose $17 billion and still be in business,” said the source, who asked for anonymity. “The firm will not fall apart because of this. Just John (Paulson's) money alone is enough to keep the firm in business. But he is not going anywhere. There are absolutely no signs that John Paulson intends to do anything other than manage his way out of this.” This scenario would also have to assume that the firm stops losing money but regardless, suck on the above, New Mexico. Paulson Tries To Bounce Back [P&I via Dealbook]