Being a Chief Investment Officer at Soros Fund Management, the $25 billion family office run by billionaire George Soros who reportedly lost $1 billion following the Trump election as a result of bearish market bets, is not easy: recall that last August, Ted Burdick, the former CIO of the fund stepped down after just 8 months in the position but remained at the firm. The transition took place at a time when Soros was said to have returned to an active fund management role, putting in place “big, bearish bets.”
Perhaps sensing he needs some new blood at the top, overnight the NYT reported that Dawn Fitzpatrick, a senior executive at the asset-management arm of UBS, has accepted the job of chief investment officer at Soros.
At UBS, Fitzpatrick oversaw more than 300 billion Swiss francs (about $303 billion).
As the NYT adds, her hiring comes after George Soros, the octogenarian founder of the company, began to involve himself in day-to-day trading decisions after having stepped away to pursue his philanthropic endeavors.
During the first half of 2016, for instance, Mr. Soros reportedly called for a series of investment positions, including holdings in gold, that would benefit from economic turmoil. The company also put on trades that benefited from Britain’s vote in June to exit the European Union, even as Mr. Soros himself was openly critical of the decision.Whether Mr. Soros’s active role within Soros Fund Management will continue during Ms. Fitzpatrick’s tenure could not immediately be determined.
Some details on Fitzpatrick’s background: she began her career as a clerk on the American Stock Exchange working for a predecessor to UBS O’Connor in the 1990s. By 2013, she had risen through the ranks to lead UBS O’Connor’s hedge fund business. Last year, she was named the head of a new unit that combined the hedge fund business with other investment platforms. Ulrich Körner, head of UBS asset management, told employees at the time that during Fitzpatrick’s 23 years at O’Connor, she had “established a track record as a highly successful investor across all these asset classes.”
It was not immediately clear if she would deliver some bullish bias to what has otherwise been a quite bearish – and at least over the past year, money-losing – portfolio.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-01/george-soros-hires-new-chief-investment-officer