Hedge Fund Manager Wants to Be on TV

[brker_guy]

Don't know if you guys saw these articles today.  Interesting Read

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-30/hedge-fund-manager-wants-to-be-on-tv.html

 

http://nymag.com/news/business/boom-brands/sam-adrangi-kerrisdale-capital-2013-10/

 

 

 

 

[Parsad]

What a joke!  It's why the industry has the credibility of a Nevada State Boxing Commission sanctioned event.  Cheers!

[brker_guy]

I think a few years ago, Charlie Munger referred to it as the Easter Eggs Hunters looking for eggs to hunt, but will disappointed. 

[Guest]

While not the fighting part, isn't the brand building thing pretty much what Tilson does? His performance isn't very good but he's on TV a lot.

[thepupil]

Sahm publishes intensively researched writeups, was one of the loudest critics of Chinese reverse mergers, and seems to focus on smallcaps where he can get a real informational edge.

 

He acknowledged that there may be monetary benefits to being a bit obnoxious.  I agree with him. Maybe he is a one-hit wonder, maybe he is getting ahead of himself with his lavish spending,  but I struggle to see how this guy is a joke.

 

His posts on Seeking Alpha, VIC, and his own website are always of high quality. What's wrong with sharing ideas? Isn't that what we do here?

[thelads]

I agree he does detailed analysis. Fair enough on that. But I just lose all respect when resorting to that language (in the ny mag article from another fund) or endorsing it. It's one thing to think it or say it behind closed doors. But what does he hope to achieve? Will that bring the CEO around or make it even possible to bridge the gap. It hardly helps the case and makes resolution that much harder. A fraud is a different case with different requirements. It just makes me wonder about judgement.

 

No doubt he is far brighter than I ever will be. But he is very young and this looks like a lot of ego kicking in already. I hear you on Chinese reverse mergers. And one can take nothing away there. But this was not uncommon knowledge in or around Wall Street or for those in finance living in the city. It just wasn't really actionable size wise for most. I commend him growing his fund. Doing unconventional trades and doing good analysis. But why act like this? Its such a shame.

I hope he comes around to better public communication. Such a waste otherwise. Becomes more tabloidish otherwise.

[merkhet]

 

After the closing bell rings and the trading day comes to an end, we head to dinner at a nearby steakhouse, where he tells me that while he still likes the research part of investing -- the long nights hunched over 8-Ks and 10-Qs, the digging through earnings-call transcripts, the private investigators in far-flung countries -- he’s realizing that the more profitable route, in the long run, might be to turn himself into a brand, go on CNBC, get some gravitas, and start picking fights.

 

 

I believe people are responding to the emphasized lines from the article.

[siddharth18]

Returns are laudable and begets respect especially for a prospective English major that almost became a journalist. But class and reputation need to be nurtured too. Maybe it's hard to do when you've made quite a bit of "free money."

[brker_guy]

But class and reputation need to be nurtured too. Maybe it's hard to do when you've made quite a bit of "free money."

 

Not to mention having a little bit of humility along the way?  The thing that made Buffett and Munger great is that they are humble in their earlier successes.  It's how you carry yourself after you become good that makes you great, not how cocky you are that makes you great.  We shall see how his long positions will do in the next 5 years, shall we?

[Guest deepValue]

Somewhat off topic, I've noticed that a lot of small hedge funds that raised a lot of money after shorting Chinese frauds into the ground in 2011 have not performed well in the last couple of years. Any idiot could find Chinese frauds in those days; maybe these guys just aren't that good at what they do.

[writser]

Somewhat off topic, I've noticed that a lot of small hedge funds that raised a lot of money after shorting Chinese frauds into the ground in 2011 have not performed well in the last couple of years. Any idiot could find Chinese frauds in those days; maybe these guys just aren't that good at what they do.

 

I think it was easy money only in hindsight. Most situations were hairy either way, long or short and by the time it was clear-cut what to do the stocks in question were already hard to borrow and valuations very low. Not to mention that the shortsellers were actually sued by some companies. Some of these funds might have bet the house and got lucky, but there was definitely some skill involved. I'll gladly consider myself "any idiot" but I didn't make any money there.