http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/meet-david-abrams-the-bashful-billionaire-youve-never-heard-of/story-fnay3ubk-1226941996631#
IN the Back Bay neighbourhood of Boston, one man is building a money-making machine that rivals some of the hedge fund industry’s biggest names.
Calls to his office go unreturned even from those eager to hand over eight-figure sums, potential investors say. One industry veteran referred to him as “a unicorn”, as few people have ever seen him.
The hedge fund manager, David Abrams, has personally become a billionaire, and earned billions more for his wealthy investors, over the past five years running what is effectively a one-man shop, according to company and investor documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal and people who have worked with him. His firm, Abrams Capital Management, manages nearly $US8 billion ($8.6bn) across three funds and is discussing raising money for a fourth fund that could help push its assets past $US10bn.
In an era of star investors who appear regularly on television and talk up their ideas at hyped confabs, Mr Abrams, 53, has never spoken at an event open to the public.
“He probably would have preferred you not find him,” said Roger Brown, president of Berklee College of Music, where Mr Abrams is a trustee.
Abrams Capital’s main funds have posted an average annualised return of about 15 per cent since its founding in 1999, nearly double the average for hedge funds tracked by HFR and triple the S&P 500 index, including dividends.
The firm invests in a relatively small number of beaten-down companies at any one time, mostly through stocks at present, though it has also dipped into some fixed-income deals in recent years, including the unwinding of bankrupt Enron. Among its recent stockholdings have been bookseller Barnes & Noble, retailer J.C. Penney and money-transfer firm Western Union.
Mr Abrams also is among the small group of investors that has taken a big bet on government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, wagering that the Obama administration’s plan to wind down and replace the entities will fail, according to investor documents.
The firm employs three analysts and a small back-office staff, but Mr Abrams approves all trades personally, according to people who have worked with him. Other firms of comparable assets can have hundreds of employees.
He also built his fortune with the equivalent of one hand tied behind his back: his firm uses no leverage, or borrowed money, and often sits on billions in cash. It currently holds about 40 per cent of its $US8bn under management in cash, investor updates show.
Mr Abrams got his start in 1988 at Baupost Group, also based in Boston. Run by Seth Klarman, Baupost is one of the world’s largest hedge fund firms, with $US27bn under management.
The two remain friends, and Mr Klarman’s personal foundation has put money into Abrams Capital’s funds. Mr Klarman described his protege as “smart as a whip”.
“He loves a good puzzle and a good treasure hunt,” Mr Klarman said.
People who have worked with him said the University of Pennsylvania graduate who majored in history is introverted and cerebral. The son of a stockbroker and psychotherapist and a father of two, he is an avid follower of jazz music and fan of the band Earth, Wind and Fire.
Like Mr Klarman, Mr Abrams is known to be patient to the extreme. He will sit on a static portfolio for months without making a move.
Investors in the firm, including institutions like Brandeis University, with an endowment of about $US700 million, sometimes get scant information. Mr Abrams’ most recent quarterly letter consists of just six paragraphs, one of which is a single sentence.
“He’s not going to waste a nanosecond to impress you, or convince you, or argue with you,” said Mr Brown of Berklee. “He knows what he thinks and if you ask him, he’ll tell you. If you don’t, he might just sit there in silence.”
Mr Abrams probably collected more than $US400m last year on the back of a 23 per cent return for one of his main funds, according to Journal calculations based on his fees, performance and his personal investment in the firm. He doesn’t appear on lists of top-paid hedge fund managers because his performance figures are so closely guarded, but his estimated compensation last year would have put him ahead of David Einhorn, Daniel Och and even Mr Klarman, according to industry publication Institutional Investor’s Alpha.
A portion of his earnings came from a private equity-style vehicle, which doesn’t pay out gains until it is unwound, and a handful of firm executives may have shared a small slice of his payday. The hedge funds were up an additional 2 per cent in the first quarter, investor documents show.
As a side gig, in 2007 Mr Abrams was part of a group that bought a 20 per cent stake in the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders. Forbes estimates the team’s worth at $US825m, the NFL’s least valuable team. Before the purchase, he wasn’t a big football fan but views the team as a distressed investment, a source said.
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