Hedge fund scoops up ex-Bear exec

One of The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.’s senior staff members has been scooped up by hedge fund manager Halcyon Asset Management LLC of New York three weeks after Bear was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jerry Bailey, who most recently served as senior advisory director at Bear Stearns Merchant Bank, is joining Halcyon as executive vice president of finance and operations. He will develop and implement the global asset management firm’s new financial reporting and investor relations infrastructure. Both Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase are based in New York. Last month, Halcyon, which manages more than $11 billion in assets, announced plans to go public in the third quarter through a merger with New York-based Alternative Asset Management Acquisition Corp.(InvestmentNews March 13). The futures of many Bear Stearns executives have been in flux since the financial services firm was purchased by JPMorgan Chase for a fire-sale price of $2 per share, or a total of $240 million, after Bear Stearns neared collapse (InvestmentNews March 17). The offer was later increased to $10 a share to appease angry shareholders (InvestmentNews March 24). Estimates of job cuts to be made by JPMorgan Chase have numbered around 7,000 (InvestmentNews March 17).