by Saijel Kishan Margaret Collins
Step inside Table Management, an obscure investment firm in New York, and something strange happens: you’re transported to the rarefied realm ofBill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager.
Table, it turns out, is sort of a secret wrapped in mystery. From the same Manhattan skyscraper as Ackman’sPershing Square Capital Management, Table handles the personal finances of one client: the boss.
Ackman’s setup might seem unusual in the hedge fund business, where managers stake their fortunes on the funds they oversee for clients.
But a growing number of prominent hedge funders are also quietly cordoning off private enclaves for themselves, often within their big-name firms.Eric Mindich,Dan Och and others have created what are known as singlefamily offices– and not everyone is happy about it. Critics say managers should focus on their hedge funds and, in effect, eat their own cooking.
“I expect hedge fund managers to be 100 percent invested in their hedge funds,” saidKarl Scheer, chief investment officer of the $1.2 billion endowment at the University of Cincinnati. “I prefer that they’re singularly focused in order to achieve the best results.”