Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Who did Spitzer ? Part II

Back in his Attorney General days, Mr. Spitzer's gave some advice for people who have to break the law. He said "Never talk when you can nod, and never nod when you can wink, and never write an email because it's death. You're giving prosecutors all the evidence we need"

Given all this, one can not see the Mayflower Affair as anything other then deliberate act of political suicide, committed by a knowledgeable professional. And the damage was multiplied by the long and torturous silence, when Governor neither denied nor addressed the allegations.

A few scenarios seem plausible. Most likely, he was made an offer he couldn't refuse. Something of much greater significance was lurking by the surface, and perhaps the Governor was told to either go this way, or the high way. And after all the dust settles, losing governor's seat out of basically a one time fling without a juicy story of a perversion of some sort or an allegation of corruption isn't the worst proposition for Mr. Spitzer.

There is no way one can discount Hillary vs Obama campaign and the bottomless bag of dirty PR to which both sides will resort without an eyebat. Clinton and Spitzer go hand in hand, but that doesn't necessarily translate into Obama points from this scandal. McCain and rest of GOP aren't chopped liver either. Nor is George Fox, of Titan Advisors, probably the only friend Mr. Spitzer has south of Fulton Street. Without turning this into Pelican Brief Redux, here are some people at whom a researcher may want to take a look :

George Fox - President and FounderGeorge Fox leads Titan Advisors as its President, actively engaging in the firm's portfolio management process as a member of the Investment Committee and leading Titan's business development and marketing efforts. He entered the New York financial markets in 1984 as a floor trader at the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange and the Commodity Exchange Inc., where he traded for his own account for seven years. In 1992, Mr. Fox created G. Fox & Co., a hedge fund advisory firm. He graduated with a B.A. degree from Tulane University in 1981 and earned a law degree from the University of Richmond (VA) in 1984.

Tom Holliday - Chief Investment Officer and FounderTom Holliday is a member of the Investment Committee and is chiefly responsible for Titan Advisors' portfolio construction and manager research. Before joining Titan Advisors in April 2001, he was responsible for identifying and recommending investment managers for Soros Fund Management as it changed from a global macro fund to a multi-strategy, multi-manager fund. At Soros, Mr. Holliday also established due diligence guidelines and created manager analysis reports. Previously, he was a senior marketing consultant for Strategic Financial Solutions and helped build its PerTrac product into the hedge fund industry's leading analytical tool. Mr. Holliday, who attended the University of Tennessee, also has experience trading in the futures markets and selecting Commodity Trading Advisors.

Doug Herman - Chief Financial Officer and FounderDoug Herman is the chief financial officer of Titan Advisors. A certified public accountant, Mr. Herman previously was co-founder of general practice CPA firm Gittleson & Herman, where he worked with high net worth individuals, businesses and hedge funds. He also spent three years in private practice and 11 years with Executive Monetary Management (EMM), where as executive vice president and treasurer he ran the day-to-day operations of the firm. Prior to EMM, Mr. Herman was employed by medium-sized public accounting firms. He earned a B.S. from the University of Maryland, an M.B.A. in accounting from St. John's University (NY) and is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in N.Y.

Kieran Cavanna - Principal and Research AnalystKieran Cavanna, who joined Titan Advisors in 2002, primarily identifies and performs due diligence on hedge fund managers in the long/short- equity and event driven strategies. Mr. Cavanna is also active in the firm's portfolio construction process as a member of the Investment Committee. Previously, he was a senior consultant in KPMG's business consulting group, and before that worked in program planning at the National Broadcasting Co., where he helped launch MSNBC. Mr. Cavanna earned an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 2001 and graduated with a B.A. from the University of Richmond in 1994.

Darren Ross - Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer Darren Ross is the Chief Operating Officer of Titan Advisors and is also responsible for legal and compliance matters. Prior to joining Titan Advisors in May 2006, Mr. Ross worked for six years as part of the management team of the Wolfson Group, a large family office that actively invests in hedge funds, private equity funds and other alternative investments. Mr. Ross worked previously as an attorney at Dorsey and Whitney, LLC and as a certified public accountant at Finkle, Ross & Rost, LLC. Mr. Ross graduated with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and earned a J.D. from Fordham University in 1997.
N. Claude Colabella -Director of Investor Relations Claude Colabella is responsible for investor relations and business development. Before joining Titan Advisors in 2001, he operated Alpha Beta Alternative Investments, which was a hedge fund advisory and fund of funds firm. From 1990 to 1998, Mr. Colabella was involved in energy industry equity research, first as a senior vice president at John S. Herold Inc. and later as president and co-founder of Petroleum Research Group. Previously, he was affiliated with Westfair Financial Analysis, Zimbalist Smith Ltd. and Securities Industry Management Corp. Mr. Colabella graduated magna cum laude from Manhattan College in 1983 and earned his M.B.A. from Duke University in 1985.

Karl Chalupa - Head of Multi-Strategy and Global MacroKarl Chalupa joined Titan Advisors in August 2007 and performs due diligence primarily on multi-strategy quantitative, fixed income, and global macro hedge fund managers. Additionally, he is a member of the investment committee. Prior to joining Titan he was president of Gamma Capital LLC, a quantitative global macro hedge fund. Previously he managed the currency and alternative investment groups at State Street Global Advisors. Prior to that he spent 13 years at ABN Amro Bank where he traded interest rate and currency derivatives and managed the North American proprietary trading and economic research desks. He also worked as an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He earned an M.A. in economics from Brown University in 1982 and a B.A. from Northern Illinois University in 1979.

Richard Leifels - Vice President of Operational ResearchRick Leifels joined Titan Advisors in 2005 as a vice president in charge of operational due diligence. His responsibilities include examining fund managers' operational, back office and financial/accounting procedures. He brought 20 years of insurance industry experience, most recently as MetLife's director of product development for the high net worth market. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Leifels was controller of Security Equity Life Insurance Co., where he was instrumental in developing private placement insurance products that can invest in hedge funds. Earlier, he was an assistant controller for a life reinsurance unit of The Hartford and before that was with General Reinsurance. Mr. Leifels received his B.B.A. in accounting from St. Bonaventure University in 1984.

I could produce a relatively precise outcome scenario of what will happen to the parties involved with probabilities of each outcome, but there is no real upside to that. Yet.

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