An internal fight brought the “multiple ex-relationships” of Bridgewater Fund management to the forefront of public opinion
Financial Associated Press, December 29 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng)As legendary investor Ray Dalio announced his retirement at the end of last year and devoted himself to traveling around the world to preach about the “debt crisis”, Bridgewater Associates officially entered the governance of a new management team headed by CEO Nir Bar Dea. Down.
As the year draws to a close, an internal fight that occurred shortly after Bar Dia took office has surfaced, triggering heated discussions among people around the world about the internal governance of top funds, especially internal love issues.
Shortly after Bar Dia took over, a large-scale personnel shakeup was implemented, and a formal letter of complaint was sent to the board of directors.Since Barr Dia appointed his ex-girlfriend Erin Miles and Miles’ fiancé Sean Macrae as co-CEOs of Bridgewater Investments, Paul Ross, who was robbed of his job, immediately wrote a letter accusing the company of nepotism, age, and gender discrimination. And other issues.
(Introduction page of Bridgewater Associates executives, source: Bridgewater) Faced with infighting among executives, the board of directors of Bridgewater Associates hired an external law firm to investigate. According to people familiar with the matter, the result of the investigation was that Paul Ross’s claims had “no basis”.
What sealed the whole matter was that Margo Cook and Mike McGavick, two co-chairmen of Bridgewater’s board of directors, issued a statement saying that a former employee claimed that one of the company’s best employees had more than 14 years of experience and outstanding performance in the company. For a woman who performs well, her promotion does not come from her own excellence. This behavior is designed to advance personal selfish interests and perpetuates an extremely harmful dynamic from time immemorial that targets the most capable people, especially women.
The product of Dalio’s “principles”?
In ordinary reports on listed companies, the probability of “predecessors” appearing among core management is not high.With the recent yearsMcDonald’s, BP, CME Group, BlackRockThere have been cases where senior executives have been fired for “not fully disclosing close relationships within the company.” This type of issue once became a minefield for internal governance of listed companies.
But it is obvious that Bridgewater Fund is fundamentally different from ordinary companies.
According to many people who have worked at Bridgewater Associates, because most of the people who work at Bridgewater are young people in their 20s and 30s, and the company is located in a Connecticut suburb far away from the center of New York, dating within the company is very difficult. common.
In addition to the right time and place, there is alsoFormer boss Dalio’s unique “principles” added fuel to the fire–Hundreds of rules to govern personal life and business operations, including the famous “speak out” culture. People who accept this culture also say that these rules help build the meaningful relationships among colleagues that Dalio advocates.
Driven by cultural identification, higher-than-peer pay, and non-compete clauses, those who stay tend to stick around for a long time, and as they move into management, the rules change.
People familiar with the matter revealed,Bal Dia fell in love with Erin Miles in 2016, and their relationship lasted for about four years.During this period, the two people’s ranks were also promoted rapidly. In 2019, Bar Dia was promoted to the co-head of Bridgewater’s “Investment Engine”, responsible for research, trading and investment portfolio construction, reporting directly to co-CIO Greg Jensen. report. At the same time, Miles was also promoted to co-head of securities research, and later became a partner of Bridgewater in 2021 and joined the investment committee.
Miles was engaged to Sean Macrae, another person in the story, much earlier.Macrae is also a partner of Bridgewater Associates. He once served as co-head of investment analysis at Bridgewater Associates and was responsible for foreign exchange investment and China theme research. Sean Macrae is now married to his wife, who until recently was Bar Dia’s top assistant.
Although Bridgewater does not restrict company employees from dating, there are rules prohibiting romance between direct superiors and subordinates. People familiar with the matter said that due to Bar Dia’s relationship with Miles, Bridgewater’s internal approach is that Bar Dia will not participate in any decisions related to Miles’ salary and promotion.
Obviously, not all Bridgewater employees can fall in love as smoothly as Bal Dia and Erin Miles.
Last month, New York Times reporter Rob Copeland’s new book “Funds: Dalio, Bridgewater, Reveal the Unknown Side of the Wall Street Legend” was released. Bar Dia appears sparingly in the book, which was strongly criticized by Bridgewater Associates, but he is accused of crudely investigating an undisclosed intimate relationship between employees within the company. People familiar with the matter also confirmed the authenticity of the incident to the media.
The key is investment performance
From a historical perspective, evaluating a fund’s management ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the assets under management. Bridgewater’s current reputation is not only due to the former leader’s love of writing books and preaching, but also to their long-term dominance of the list of “the most profitable hedge funds on earth.”
But for the 42-year-old Bar Dia, Bridgewater is still in the throes of the “post-Dalio era.”
Public information shows that the flagship Pure Alpha No. 2 Fund has a cumulative annualized return of 3.5% since 2012. As of June this year, hedge fund assets under management were US$97 billion, compared with US$126 billion a year ago. The new management has said it will control the size of the hedge fund, but has not publicly disclosed specific figures.
It is reported that although the securities team is still stumbling, the return rate of this year’s Bridgewater flagship fund as of October this year is 7.5%.
