Soros Is Giving
More Control
Of Firm to Sons
Billionaire trader George Soros is traveling around the U.S. telling all who will listen how the deep problems he says he sees in the country can be fixed with a change at the top of the government.
Back at home, he is dealing with the latest upheaval atop his own hedge-fund firm.
Mr. Soros is handing greater control of his $13 billion empire to his sons, Robert and Jonathan, and hiving off various units that will continue to manage his assets, including real-estate holdings. The moves come after several years in which Mr. Soros has had mixed returns and has seen a string of top executives come and go amid grumbling that the 74-year-old patriarch second-guesses his stock pickers.
Some of the departing executives were Wall Street stars hired with fanfare, enabling Mr. Soros to focus on various philanthropic projects around the globe.
People close to the firm -- which, like other hedge funds, makes elaborate bets on stocks, bonds and other global markets -- note that returns haven't been exceptional in recent years, justifying some of Mr. Soros's concerns. The firm's Quantum Endowment Fund was up 0.22% this year through Aug. 31, beating losses in major stock indexes but trailing the average returns of rival hedge funds. Last year, the Soros fund rose about 15%, underperforming fellow hedge funds as well as the overall market. The firm did better during the bear market.
Now, for the second time in four years, he has asked Robert to help lead the firm, despite the 41-year-old's past reluctance to manage it. Robert Soros wins high marks from those who have worked for him, who note an ability to anticipate global market moves, but they say he was happier focusing on investments rather than running the firm. Robert Soros was named to head the firm four years ago, but soon gave up the role.
None of the Soroses were available for comment.
People at the firm say Robert has indicated that now he is more comfortable, along with his brother, taking a bigger role at his father's firm. These people say the shake-up, announced late Monday to the firm's investors, is a way for George Soros to ensure that his progeny continue to lead his legendary firm. Robert, the oldest of Mr. Soros's five children, takes over as the chief investment officer of the company.
The Monday letter to investors, written by the firm's president and chief executive, Mark Schwartz, said the changes were being undertaken to "simplify the structure" of Soros Fund Management LLC. The firm's well-known unit, the $8.3 billion Quantum Endowment Fund, has made bets on stocks, bonds and currencies for years, and was quarterbacked until last month by Jacob Goldfield, a former Goldman Sachs star.
But the Soros firm also has billions of dollars in real estate, private equity and credit investments. The letter to investors said these investments will be handled outside the firm, some by executives leaving Soros, such as Steven Mnuchin, another high-profile former Goldman Sachs executive. Now that these investments largely will be managed by "independent firms," Robert Soros and his team will focus on its traditional bread-and-butter style: betting on the global market.
The moves come after Mr. Goldfield quit the firm last month to run his own hedge fund, the latest in a string of departures. In the past few years, senior executives including Robert Bishop, William Stack and Duncan Hennes departed. In 2000, superstar trader Stanley Druckenmiller, the architect of the idea to bet against the British pound in 1992, a move that netted over $1 billion, quit after a rough period in the market.
Some executives who have worked at the firm say that while Mr. Soros hasn't been involved in the day-to-day investment decisions for many years, he continues to weigh in on various moves.
Lately, he has been giving money, taking out advertisements and making speeches to help the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry and harshly criticize President Bush. Mr. Soros is on a tour of critical states, trying to convince voters that President Bush is "endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests and undermining American values," according to his Web site. In recent years, Mr. Soros also has been involved in democratic advocacy groups in the U.S. and in Eastern Europe.
The Soros firm's subdued returns don't come as a surprise to some, because the firm at certain times in recent years has said it will aim to be more conservative in its investment stance. Much of the money Mr. Soros's firm manages is his own family's. At other times, however, the firm has given indications that it wants to return to the days of outsize gains, suggesting that Wall Street continues to pull on the famed investor.
"His foundation, and the investors that are left, are in the stay-rich mode, and the return expectations are a fraction of what they once were," says Lee Hennessee, chairman of Hennessee Group LLC, which advises hedge-fund investors.
索罗斯要向儿子交班
亿万富翁乔治?索罗斯(George Soros)眼下正在全美各地奔走，向选民们大声疾呼：他认为，只有美国政府最高层换班才能解决美国存在的一些根深蒂固的问题。
而回到家里，他要处理的则是自己的对冲基金公司高层的重大人事变动。
索罗斯将向其两个儿子──罗伯特(Robert)和乔纳森(Jonathan)进一步交出管理权，并打算把房地产子公司等各种管理其资产的子公司都剥离出去。索罗斯缔造的金融帝国目前的规模为130亿美元。索罗斯掌权这几年，公司取得的业绩并不尽如人意，并且一连串的高级管理人士先后挂冠而去。他们对今年74岁的索罗斯经常事后责备为他挑选持股的人颇有微词。
离职的高级管理人士有些曾是索罗斯花大手笔从华尔街挖过来的。正是由于他们的辅佐，索罗斯才能专心致志地投身全球的各种慈善活动中。
据知情人士透露说，正如索罗斯担心的那样，其对冲基金公司近几年来的表现并不十分理想。截至8月31日，公司旗下的量子基金(Quantum Endowment Fund)的资产总值今年仅仅增长了0.22%。这个表现强于主要股指，但不及业内的平均回报率。去年，这个基金增长了约15%，表现弱于同行和大盘。但索罗斯领导的对冲基金公司往往在市场处于熊市时会有出类拔萃的表现。
现在，索罗斯4年来第二次要求罗伯特肩负起重担，主持公司大局。现年41岁的罗伯特过去曾表示他不愿担任这个职务。罗伯特在同事们心目中享有很高的声望，他们认为罗伯特能准确预见到全球的市场波动。但他们同时也指出，罗伯特更愿意专心致志地从事投资事务，而不愿接管整个公司。
记者无法获得索罗斯及其家族成员的评论。
据公司里的人说，罗伯特曾表示，他现在觉得更愿意和他的弟弟一起在父亲的公司里负起更大的责任了。他们说，周一晚间公司向投资者宣布的这一重大人事变动使索罗斯得以确保能由他的后代继续执掌他那富有传奇色彩的公司。罗伯特是索罗斯的5个子女中年龄最大的，现在他在父亲的公司里担任首席投资总监。
周一发给投资者的通知函是由公司总裁兼首席执行长马克?施瓦茨(Mark Schwartz)起草的，通知说，作出如此变动是为了简化索罗斯基金管理公司(Soros Fund Management LLC.)的结构。该公司旗下名声显赫的有83亿美元资产的量子基金多年来一直从事股票、债券和外汇的投机交易，在上个月之前，该基金一直由原高盛(Goldman Sachs)著名投资银行家雅各布?戈德菲尔德(Jacob Goldfield)执掌。
不过索罗斯的公司在房地产、私募基金和信贷投资方面也有数十亿美元资产。致投资者的通知函中说，这些投资将划到公司之外独立运作，其中一些业务将由离开索罗斯公司的管理人士经营，比如另一位前高盛明星级专业人士斯蒂文?慕钦(Steven Mnuchin)。在上述投资基本都由独立机构经营之后，罗伯特和他的团队将专注于索罗斯公司传统的基本业务──在全球金融市场上从事投机交易。
过去几年，公司有许多人先后离开，最近一位是在索罗斯宣布人事交接计划之前、在上个月离职的戈德菲尔德，他已辞职经营自己的对冲基金。过去几年中，离开索罗斯的还有罗伯特?毕肖普(Robert Bishop)、威廉?斯戴克(William Stack)和邓肯?海因斯(Duncan Hennes)。1992年索罗斯狙击英镑计划（该计划为索罗斯公司净赚10亿美元）的总设计师、超一流交易员斯坦利?德拉克米特(Stanley Druckenmiller)也在2000年市场经历艰难时期后离开了索罗斯。
曾在索罗斯公司任职的一些管理人士说，虽然许多年来索罗斯已经不再插手公司的日常投资决策，但他仍在参与其他的各种各样的事务。
最近，为支持约翰?克里(John Kerry)的总统竞选活动，他不仅出钱、作广告，还发表演说。索罗斯现正在对选情有重要影响的州作巡回演讲，从他的网站上看，他希望让选民们相信，布什总统正“将我们的安全置于危险境地，伤害我们的根本利益，削弱美国的价值”。索罗斯还与美国和东欧国家的一些民主运动团体有关。
在一些人看来，索罗斯公司投资回报下降的现象并不奇怪，因为该公司近年来曾在某些场合表示，在投资立场上它将坚持比较保守的姿态。索罗斯管理的财富有很多都是他的家族的自有财产。不过在另外一些场合，索罗斯公司也曾表示说，希望能回到从前日进斗金的时代，看来华尔街仍吸引著这位名噪一时的投资巨人。
对冲基金投资咨询公司Hennessee Group LLC董事长利?海因西(Lee Hennessee)说，由于索罗斯的投资基金采取了较为谨慎的投资理念，与当年的辉煌时期相比，人们大幅降低了对该基金的投资回报率预期。
