Current Account »

• Recording emerges of Lenihan investor call

  October 4, 2010 @ 8:58 pm | by John Collins

  US blog Zero Hedge has managed to get hold of a recording of Brian Lenihan’s controversial conference call with investors organised by Citi. Unfortunately it’s the second half of the call – after the initial call descended into farce when all the lines were left open rather than being placed on mute. What happened during the original call, and whether or not the Minister for Finance was heckled by traders as suggested by The Daily Telegraph, is still a subject of debate. This recording shows that even the call that went ahead was not without technical difficulties.

  The Citi host for the call begins by offering “profound apologies for the foul up our conference provider had this morning, inconveniencing everyone, not least the Minister”.

  The call features John Corrigan, chief executive of the NTMA and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan giving short presentations and then engaging in a Q&A with investors. On the 45 minute call Lenihan is grilled on a range of issues including our “sluggish” growth, the cost of the banking bailout, and next year’s Budget.

  One of the NTMA officials confirms that the Attorney General is working on specific legislation to deal with subordinated debt holders in Anglo and Irish Nationwide, so that they can share the pain. Lenihan than reiterates the view that Irish law recognises senior debt as being equal with deposits and there should be no ambiguity about that.

  As is customary the operator warns all participants that the call is being recorded – so clearly a recording exists of the origingal call. It seems unlikely it will ever see the light of day.

• Questions unanswered on Lenihan conference call

  @ 2:22 pm | by John Collins

  The Telegraph’s report that Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan was heckled by investors on a conference call on Friday attracted lots of attention over the weekend. The Department has clearly stated that the report is inaccurate.

  I haven’t spoken to anyone on that call or heard a recording of it (if you were, please get in touch) but a number of things in the article warrant comment. (more…)

• Soros warning bodes ill for the IFSC

  October 29, 2008 @ 7:23 pm | by John McManus

  

  Picture: George Soros breaks the good news at MIT today

  Legendary fund manager George Soros has predicted that the global financial crisis will reduce the hedge-fund industry to as little as a third of its current size and he should know as his Quantum Fund was the grand daddy of them all.

  Addressing an audience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Soros (78)  did not specify if he was talking about the number of funds or the amount of money invested in them but given that some 4,000 odd people work in hedge fund administration in the IFSC and another couple of hundred work in hedge fund management, its hardly good news.

  Indeed some argue that the impact on the IFSC of the credit crunch is the equivalent of Intel closing its plant in Leixlip.

  As one reader succinctly puts it:

  “The business is based on fees derived from the assets under administration and these assets have been declining spectacularly since the start of the year. Over the past 2 years salaries and demand for employees have inflated the markets and costs have exploded. Now many of the principal administrators are faced with a serious shortfall and many many jobs are at risk.”

• Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life…

  October 22, 2008 @ 12:26 pm | by Laura Slattery

   In an astonishing example of how to quit the day job in style, Los Angeles-based hedge fund manager Andrew Lahde has cut his ties with the industry with a missive that takes swipes at the “stupid” traders who helped make him rich, before going on to call for a new meritocratic government (led by financier George Soros) and – “while I still have an audience” – the legalisation of marijuana.

  One of the funds managed by Lahde’s $80 million firm made a reported 866 per cent return last year by betting that the US subprime mortgage market would collapse, suggesting a long (Lahde is 37) and comfortable retirement ahead, as he repairs his stress-damaged health. In case you missed it, here is the text in full… (more…)

• Cash is king

  October 16, 2008 @ 2:55 pm | by Fiona Reddan

  You know it’s time to forego all thoughts of investing in the stock market when even the hedge funds have given up. Despite the ending of the short-selling ban on financial stocks in the US, The Wall Street Journal this week reported that hedge fund supremo Steve Cohen of SAC Capital, who was one of the top hedge fund earners last year, making $900 million, has turned to cash. Cohen, who usually invests in everything from vanilla equity investments to credit markets, convertible bonds and emerging markets, has moved half of his firm’s assets, or $7 billion, into money market and other short-term securities. According to the paper, he intends to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the year, just trading a small portfolio himself. The move is bad news for brokers and the market alike – Cohen’s SAC Capital is said to account for 3 per cent of the daily trading on the New York Stock Exchange.