Meredith Whitney says she's done managing other people's money

Meredith Whitney says she's done managing other people's money
After resolving dispute with big investor, celebrity banking analyst describes stint running her own fund as "highly unfortunate."
JUN 03, 2015
By  Bloomberg
Meredith Whitney, who turned fame as a banking analyst into a stint running her own hedge fund, is through with managing other people's money. “I think that chapter of my life is over,” she said in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday. “This whole experience has been highly unfortunate and I'm putting it behind me.” Ms. Whitney's prescient warning before the financial crisis that Citigroup Inc. would cut its dividend turned her into a Wall Street star and put her on magazine covers. Her firm Kenbelle Capital and its American Revival Fund started investing in heartland stocks in November 2013, after she predicted on TV and in a book that the center of the U.S. would boom. (Related: How Meredith Whitney's hedge fund sputtered in its debut year) Her top investor, a fund tied to billionaire Michael Platt's BlueCrest Capital Management, sued in December to get back its $46 million after months of losses. A court filing this month showed the two had resolved the claims. Ms. Whitney didn't immediately respond to messages left at her office. In a brief phone call Wednesday, Stanley Arkin, a lawyer for Ms. Whitney, wouldn't elaborate on her interview. “She's an honest woman,” he said. “I'm not at liberty to say anything more than that.” Starting her debut fund without a staff of analysts to help choose investments and relying too much on one investor's money helped lead her astray, a person with direct knowledge of her firm told Bloomberg earlier this year, after her New York office went on the market and top executives left. “At the end of May I returned money to every single investor,” she said in the Fox interview. Ms. Whitney is now focused on analyzing financial stocks, including the company that made her famous. “Citi's interesting,” she said.

Latest News

Maryland bars advisor over charging excessive fees to clients
Maryland bars advisor over charging excessive fees to clients

Blue Anchor Capital Management and Pickett also purchased “highly aggressive and volatile” securities, according to the order.

Wave of SEC appointments signals regulatory shift with implications for financial advisors
Wave of SEC appointments signals regulatory shift with implications for financial advisors

Reshuffle provides strong indication of where the regulator's priorities now lie.

US insurers want to take a larger slice of the retirement market through the RIA channel
US insurers want to take a larger slice of the retirement market through the RIA channel

Goldman Sachs Asset Management report reveals sharpened focus on annuities.

Why DA Davidson's wealth vice chairman still follows his dad's investment advice
Why DA Davidson's wealth vice chairman still follows his dad's investment advice

Ahead of Father's Day, InvestmentNews speaks with Andrew Crowell.

401(k) participants seek advice, but few turn to financial advisors
401(k) participants seek advice, but few turn to financial advisors

Cerulli research finds nearly two-thirds of active retirement plan participants are unadvised, opening a potential engagement opportunity.

SPONSORED RILAs bring stability, growth during volatile markets

Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today’s choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.

SPONSORED Beyond the dashboard: Making wealth tech human

How intelliflo aims to solve advisors' top tech headaches—without sacrificing the personal touch clients crave