Just because your finance career flies in your 20s, don’t assume it will maintain the same sort of elevation two decades later on.
Case in point: Eric Mindich, who will turn 50 this year, became the youngest ever partner at Goldman Sachs more than 20 years ago at age 27, earning him a reputation as a “Wall Street wunderkind.” As with all top traders of his generation, Mindich subsequently left Goldman Sachs and launched a hedge fund. New York-based hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management was born in 2004 with $3.5bn in capital. To start with it all went well. Eton Park expanded to manage $14bn in 2011, but those assets have been cut in half over the ensuing six years.
Now the jig is up. Eton Park is shutting down. It will begin returning its remaining $7bn-plus in capital to investors by the end of next month.
Mindich’s magic has faded. Eton Park lost 9.4% last year and the fund’s performance has been flat so far this year compared to a 5% gain for the S&P 500 during that time.
“A combination of industry headwinds, a difficult market environment and, importantly, our own disappointing 2016 results have challenged our ability to continue to maintain the scale and scope we believe necessary to pursue our investment program,” Mindich wrote in a letter to investors that was sent after he notified the firm’s 120 employees of the decision to close, according to The New York Times.
Admittedly, Mindich isn’t the only one struggling. Huge numbers of hedge funds closed last year, prompting claims that traders are better off working in long-only asset management. Nor is Mindich the first ex-Goldman partner to crash and burn. – Jon Corzine’s stint at MF Global was far more damaging.
Separately, Goldman’s women could soon have something to celebrate. Pax World Management, an activist shareholder, has reportedly convinced Goldman to “take proactive steps” to address the disparities in men’s and women’s compensation. Goldman agreed to enhance pay equity disclosures in an upcoming report, according to Bloomberg. BNY Mellon has committed to doing the same.
Taking job title and responsibilities into consideration, men who work at financial services firms earn 6.4% more on average than women, compared to a 5.9% percent gender pay gap at technology companies.
Source : Dan Butcher, efinancialcareers.com
