高盛神奇小子光环褪色

    “我们正在尽可能快地赎回尽可能多的资金，” 一位2008年投资了伊顿公园的投资者表示。那一年签约的投资者们都对伊顿公园寄予厚望。2007年是明迪奇最辉煌的一年，通过做空次贷，估计实现回报率达到了35%-40%，执行相似策略的约翰•鲍尔森、凯尔•巴斯等人也赚了不少钱。接着，在市场直线下跌的2008年，明迪奇再次让投资者叹服：其基金跌幅仅为10%-11%，不同的基金单位类别具体跌幅存在差异。

    2008年伊顿公园募集资金达20亿美元左右，但时至今日，所有这些投资者扣除费用后的累计投资回报率基本为零。截至2011年底，伊顿公园已有三年未踏准市场节拍，投资表现黯淡。该基金不只是去年跌了11%（远远不如对冲基金平均5%的跌幅，比标准普尔500指数基本的平均表现更是差远了），之前也有两年也很糟糕。2009年大部分时候明迪奇都看空，错过了年内的强势反弹，到年底估计只增长了5%，2010年有约9%的增幅，但去年他看好并增仓的金融股损失惨重。

    值得一提的是，他的基金表现也比不上很多同样从高盛风险套利业务出来的前同事所创立的基金。丹•奥奇的主基金仅下跌了0.58%，理查德•佩里的佩里国际资本公司（Perry Capital International）下跌了7.57%，而弗兰克•布罗森的Taconic Capital事件驱动型基金也只跌了2.7%。自2004年创立至今，伊顿公园扣除绩效费后的累积回报率仅略高于7%。

    2010年，明迪奇在年度投资者会议上试图娱乐投资者，模拟了一个他与知名电视主持人查理•罗斯的访谈。但对于投资者而言，更值得关注的是，他决定将锁定期缩短为13个月，外加三年滚动锁定期——但这只针对全新的投资者。该基金还引入了所谓的“回顾”期，在这期间，投资者可以改变主意，并决定在规定的通知期后60天拿到钱。这里有个陷阱：到时候拿到的不是1/3，只有1/6。

    和很多由前高盛合伙人经营的基金一样。伊顿公园也拥有强健的基础设施以吸引机构资金。2008年以后，这类黏性资金一直是所有对冲基金极力争取的对象。这样的策略似乎奏效了。Trim Tabs的数据显示，去年截至11月底，对冲基金业资金净流入603亿美元，虽然全年对冲基金平均下跌了5%。资金净流入完全来自直接投资，其中以养老基金为主，截至11月底向对冲基金注入了697亿美元。这些投资者调整投资配置的节奏相当缓慢，或许正好能拯救埃里克•明迪奇。

    "We are redeeming as much as we can and as fast as we can," says one investor who invested in Eton Park in 2008. To those who signed on that year, Eton Park looked like a winner. In 2007 Mindich had his best year ever, gaining an estimated 35% to 40% based on the subprime shorts that drove returns for folks like John Paulson and Kyle Bass. Then in 2008, the year of the market's freefall, Mindich impressed investors by losing a lot less than others: between 10% and 11%, depending on the share class.

    Eton Park raised about $2 billion in 2008, but all those investors have just about broken even, after paying fees. The end of 2011 marks the end of a three-stretch of lousy performance and bad market timing by Eton Park. Not only did it lose 11% last year -- far more than the average 5% among hedge funds and way below the S&P 500's break-even performance -- the loss followed two dismal years. Mindich was bearish for much of 2009, so he missed the great rally, ending the year with a gain of an estimated 5%. He chalked up about 9% in 2010, but last year his bullishness led him to load up on financial stocks, which tanked.

    Notably, he did worse than many of the funds whose founders also hailed from Goldman's risk-arbitrage desk. Dan Och's master fund was down .58%, Richard Perry's Perry Capital International declined 7.57%, and Frank Brosen's Taconic Capital event-driven fund fell 2.7%. Since inception in 2004, Eton Park has gained a little more than 7%, net of performance fees.

    In 2010, Mindich tried to entertain investors by channeling his inner star with a mock interview between himself and Charlie Rose at the annual investor meeting. More noteworthy to investors, however, was his decision to trim the lockup period to 13 months, with the three-year rolling lock -- but only for brand new investors. The firm also introduced what it calls a "look back" period, which allows investors to change their mind and decide to take their money out 60 days after the required notice period. There's a catch: Instead of taking out a third of the capital at that time, they can only take out a sixth.

    Like many of the funds run by ex-Goldman partners, Eton Park is renowned for its solid infrastructure, designed to attract institutional money. That's the kind of sticky money all hedge funds have been courting since 2008. It seems to be working. Last year, the industry ended November with $60.3 billion more in its coffers, despite the average 5% performance loss for the year, according to Trim Tabs. The net increase came entirely from direct investments, largely from pension funds, which plowed $69.7 billion into hedge funds through November. Such investors are notoriously slow to change investment allocations, and that might just be Eric Mindich's salvation.