Can’t a man decide he’s managing too much money without worrying that others will question his virility? Can’t he simply say, the markets are too crowded, the opportunities aren’t there, I would do better for investors if the fund was, oh, 25 percent more nimble? Can’t he hunt with bow and arrow or gorge himself on massive quantities of raw fish without trumpeting these proclivities to signal that despite returning $2 billion to investors, he Louis Moore Bacon hasn’t lost his animal spirit, and that if his appetites have waned just a little, it’s because he can’t stop dreaming of Angela Merkel? From The Times:
At the root of his thinking has been his inability to put on and execute a career-defining macro trade that would capitalize on the crisis in the euro zone. Like many of his peers, Mr. Bacon — who along with Mr. Soros made a bundle when the euro zone’s predecessor, the European exchange rate mechanism, blew up in 1992—recognized that the build up of debts, deficits and competitive imbalances in Europe made some form of collapse inevitable.
But with senior political figures in Europe favoring summit meetings, bailouts and more austerity as opposed to recognizing losses, making a bet that would move the needle on an $8 billion asset pile became difficult.
“The political involvement is so extreme — we have not seen this since the post-war era,” Mr. Bacon said. “And what they are doing is trying to thwart natural market outcomes. It is amazing how important the decision-making of one person, Angela Merkel, has become to world markets.”
Also:
Despite his 55 years of age, Mr. Bacon, a fitness fanatic who feasts on sushi and skis, plays squash and hunts game with a bow and arrow with a boy’s fervor, might pass for someone 10 years younger.
“If you were to see me right now, you might think I was ready to start a hedge fund,” he said, before challenging his younger interviewer to a game of squash—an offer that was sensibly refused.
