Tontine Associates Calls a Do-Over

Jeffery Gendell earned approximately $400-$500 million in 2007, an impressive haul in a tough year.

For Gendel, last year was the best of times — and the worst of times. Luckily for him, the worst of times came from a relatively puny financials fund (a few hundred million, we hear, much of it Gendell’s own cash) that got torched. It’s not all bad, though; a reliable source says Gendell gave investors their money back, then promptly raised a new financials fund at the start of this year that garnered three times as much money as the original. Better news came from the largest of his four funds, TFP Overseas, which returned 40 percent.

A significant stake in U.S. Steel helped this Duke grad buttress his numbers. Total assets are around $10 billion, most of it in the master fund. Trader Daily

Greenwich is the home of financial innovation; apparently you can win even when you lose.

If I am not mistaken Tontine had large positions in many of the homebuilders, which were of course dreadful performers last year. Perhaps he hedged those positions, or made up the losses elsewhere. Nonetheless, he came in number eighteen on Trader’s list.

Trader Daily
Top 100 of 2007

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