Mustique and Mystique Ends at Fairfield Greenwich Group

Nepotism on Wall Street is nothing new, but some people know how to perfect the art.

Fund of funds were one of the last bastions of Lucky Sperm Clubs on Wall Street; but the days of paying lip service to due diligence while cashing in on fat fees is now over. These Emperors had pretty offices and creased khakis, but ultimately no clothes.

Brad Alford of Alpha Capital Management says it best:

“It’s mind-boggling that people like Tremont and Fairfield Greenwich had been doing this for so long,” said Brad Alford, who runs Alpha Capital Management LLC in Atlanta, which helps clients choose hedge funds. “It’s the job of these funds of funds to be doing due diligence. That’s why they get paid.”

Walter Noel employed three of his son-in-laws in crucial marketing roles at Fairfield Greenwich Group, which is probably not that shocking or appalling, although Fairfield Greenwich’s pathetic due diligence efforts were.

“We are shocked and appalled by the news,” said founding partner Jeffrey Tucker in a Dec. 12 statement. Tucker was an attorney in the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before starting Fairfield Greenwich with Noel in 1983. Thomas Mulligan, a spokesman for Fairfield Greenwich, declined to comment.

Noel built a marketing machine that covered the globe. His son-in-law, Yanko Della Schiava, is based in Lugano, Switzerland, and is responsible for selling Fairfield Greenwich funds in Southern Europe, according to the firm’s Web site. Another son-in-law, Andres Piedrahita, is head of Fairfield Greenwich’s European and Latin American businesses and is based in London and Madrid. A third son-in-law, Philip Toub, markets the group’s funds in Brazil and the Middle East. Bloomberg

While the scandal will put an end to Madoff’s mystique, the Noel family will probably continue to gather in Mustique.

The island getaway could be a good place to hide from irate investors, although the Shopping Safari’s are probably a thing of the past.

Noel’s Mustique home is named Yemanja, after the goddess of the sea, and has separate children’s quarters with nanny suites.

Sweeping views of sea and mountain from every side of the house, decorated in shades of coral, perfect for outdoor living where African wooden furniture and comfortable sofas, big as beds, dot the vast outdoor living space where guests recline under a huge thatched palapa, more common in Mexico than Mustique, add to the fun, cooling the air all day, sheltering the guests at night. Infinity pools seem to merge with the cornflower blue sky.

I don’t know if the lawyers will take it away, but you can rent it for 7k a day.

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Fairfield Sent Madoff $7.3 Billion as Funds Took Fees
Bloomberg

Yemanja, Mustique
Rental Info
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