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Enviado: **23/11/2006 21:06**

Amaranth: Former head of Canadian arm having no trouble raising $$$ for a new fund
Employees of imploded hedge fund Amaranth seem to be landing on their feet. One of them, Manos Vourkoutiotis, the head of the firm's Canadian arm (who's on The Globe and Mail's "Power 25" list), already has landed $800 million of seed capital to open a new fund. He may even be staying in the same Toronto offices that housed Amaranth's operations -- they were just renovated before the shit hit the fan.

Moore Capital Management, the fund group founded by New York billionaire Louis Bacon, is the sole backer so far of Mr. Vourkoutiotis's new venture, according to people in the investment industry who are familiar with Mr. Vourkoutiotis's plans.

Mr. Vourkoutiotis is expected to raise more funds from other backers, and then will use additional money from lenders to amplify his investing power.

"I think he's pretty excited about it," said one Bay Street source.

Under Mr. Vourkoutiotis, Amaranth's Canadian operations invested in a wide range of securities ranging from distressed debt to equities. The fund backed the recapitalization of grain handler Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc. and took a big stake in Cinram International Income Fund, which it pressed for a sale when it ran into trouble on its gas bets. Amaranth was also instrumental earlier this year in squeezing a higher takeover bid for fertilizer maker Royster-Clark Ltd. out of Agrium Inc.

Mr. Vourkoutiotis, a Toronto native who started his career at RBC Dominion Securities, has a reputation as a hard-working whiz. After RBC, he worked at Gordon Capital and then at Greenwich-based hedge fund Paloma Partners.

Nicholas Maounis, Amaranth's chief executive officer, broke away from Paloma six years ago to found Amaranth.

Hedge fund whiz back on the Street - Globe and Mail

The Power 25 - The Globe and Mail

23. Manos Vourkoutiotis
President, Amaranth Advisors (Canada) ULC, Toronto
Private equity firms are increasingly seen as tough-and-tall funders for entrepreneurs and managers who want risk partners to expand their businesses, or as a source of smart capital for those shrewd enough to eye a bigger competitor worth swallowing. The business is populated by some very potent, and very low-profile, investing wizards. The exemplar is Manos Vourkoutiotis. He is the Canadian face of investing giant Amaranth Advisors, one of a handful of megasized investment funds based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Amaranth, with more than $7 billion (U.S.) under management, has more than $21 billion (U.S.) in investment positions globally (banks lend them the rest of the money). They are tight-lipped about how much is invested in Canada, but it's certainly piles, since Vourkoutiotis routinely commits over $100 million to a single trade. The modus: Make money for clients in everything from distressed debt (Amaranth is rumoured to be the largest player in Bombardier debt), to cajoling management to restructure (the fund is the largest single investor in Cinram). Whatever works: You won't hear him, but Vourkoutiotis is right in the thick of it.

Enviado: **23/11/2006 21:05**

parece que não:

Amaranth's Brian Hunter contemplates getting back in business
People have short memories, but isn't it a little soon?: Brian Hunter, the Amaranth trader at the center of the big $6 billion natural gas loser trade that caused the implosion of the fund, is said to be exploring whether to get back in business. He's apparently put out feelers with Wall Street contacts to see if there's any appetite for backing him.

If he does end up in the game again, whoever is brave enough to roll the dice might want to consider keeping him on a very short leash....

His decision on whether to start a new energy fund could depend on the outcome of regulatory inquiries and litigation over Amaranth's collapse....

An executive recruiter in contact with Mr. Hunter says he has offered to help introduce the once-highflying trader to investors. The recruiter sees opportunities for Mr. Hunter to make a fresh start with high-net-worth investors, possibly in Russia and the Middle East.

Bids & Offers: Amaranth Trader Dreams Of Second Act After Loss - Wall Street Journal
"

Enviado: **23/11/2006 20:59**

confesso que não sei se o rapaz também foi, presumo que sim. E sabias que já era o segundo que ele estoira? aos 31 anos o tipo já estoirou um record de biliões de dolares, um portento, hehe.

Enviado: **23/11/2006 20:57**

Ah sim...? Não sabia de facto... E o rapaz em causa também foi? Como é que possível?! É que não se trata de um simples erro que pode acontecer a qualquer um... Ou melhor, julgo que esses, para serem aceitáveis, têm concerteza um tecto um "bocadinho" abaixo de $6 mil milhões :roll:

Enviado: **23/11/2006 20:36**

bem, a equipa do amaranth já foi toda contratada por outro hedge fund que o anunciou com grande pompa. Como vês... "só" é dramático para quem lá tinha dinheiro.

Enviado: **23/11/2006 20:22**

"In September hedge fund manager Brian Hunter set the record, indoor and outdoor, for most money lost in a single month. Betting wrong on the direction of natural gas prices , the 32-year-old Calgary-based trader for Amaranth Advisors dropped $6 billion. Amaranth, like Long-Term Capital Management, which brought the financial markets to the brink of disaster in 1998, is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., a veritable hotbed of madcap hedge fund behavior.

The key question here is how to mend fences with outraged investors. Is there prescribed etiquette for dealing with the victims of a $6 billion financial massacre? Or should you just find a hole to crawl into? SMARTMONEY contacted several finacial bereavement counselors, who specialize in helping money managers deal with the trauma of losing more than the GDP of Chad overnight. Their ideas were compelling.

" A simple 'oops' will not suffice in a case where you've lost $6 billion in a blink," says one specialist. "Customers are going to expect a mea culpa, a truly dramatic expression of remorse. Volunteering to lie down in front of an 18-wheeler or take a dip with an open wound in a tank full of great white sharks - those are nice gestures that can help defuse a potencially explosive situation. You just have to hope nobody takes you up on it."

"In situations like this, I always advise clients to quote famous historical figures," says another counselor. "Some of my favorites are 'If you're going through hell, keep going,' 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,' 'It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,' and that old standby, 'One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go into the net.' But by all means, stay away from youth-oriented vernacular like 'my bad.' "

Several experts suggested using the time-honored third-person approach, in which the screwup puts some distance between himself and his lunacy by acting as if it were some other Canadian ding-dong who lost the $6 billion.

"Did Brian Hunter make mistakes? He did. Was Brian Hunter overzealous in his bets on the energy market? He was. But at least Brian Hunter is man enough to admit that he made serious errors in judgment. So why don´t we all chill?"

Another suggestion was to treat the $6 billion debacle as old news - boring, inconsequential trivia that was no longer of interest to anyone but pessimists and crybabies: "We here in Calgary do not want to dwell on the past. We here in Calgary want to move on. Are you ready to turn the page with us, or are you just going to sit there and mope?"

Another thought: a nicely worded apology to the freshly annihilated.

Dear Sir or Madam: I am deeply sorry that I lost $6 billion last month. I don't know what got into me. Sure, we all have our bad days, but... sheesh! Looking on the bright side, please bear in mind that I lost only $338 million of your money; other clients were totally reamed. So consider yourself lucky that you didn't really get hosed! Ha ha, only joking! - Brian Hunter

If all else fails, the bereavement counselors suggested sending chocolates. Lots and lots of chocolates. Just don't include a return address."

in "SmartMoney" The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Edição de dezembro de 2006

Hilariante, se nos conseguirmos abstrair um pouco do carácter dramático da situação...

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Semi-Off-Topic: Um artigo que li acerca de Brian Hunter...

Semi-Off-Topic: Um artigo que li acerca de Brian Hunter...