BusinessWeek- Former Bear Stearns executive Richard Marin certainly knows a thing or two about hedge fund failures. Marin was the chairman of Bear Stearns Asset Management when the division’s two big hedge funds imploded last summer, an event that led to the recent indictment of former Bear executives Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin. Now he’s returning to Wall Street with a new business venture that’s helping hedge fund managers share information about managing risk.
Marin recently launched Pointwalk Solutions Network, a New York-based company that “creates and manages networks of senior executives in the financial services space.” One of Pointwalk’s first initiatives is a networking group for hedge fund chief operating officers. The new network provides a place for hedge fund managers to share information and compare notes on issues such as “operational risk’’ and asset “valuation.’’ Marin says his clients decide which topics they want to discuss. Although Marin concedes he did learn a thing or two from last year’s hedge fund debacle. “There were a lot of lessons learned and a lot of those lessons are very instructive to a lot of people,’’ Marin says.
To be fair, Marin had no direct role in the day-to-day management of the failed Bear hedge funds. He wasn’t implicated in the June 18 indictment filed against Cioffi and Tannin, who federal prosecutors allege misled investors about the performance and viability of the funds.
