Chin up. (image via hollywoodgrind)
Arkie Busson is still one of the luckiest men in the world, he's just a little less richer than he used to be. International jet-setter Arpad "Arkie" Busson, the good looking father of two of supermodel Elle "The Body" McPherson's kids and the present fiance of Uma Thurman, lost a lot of money to the universally reviled Bernie Madoff. He's not a happy camper. From Bloomberg:
"Arpad Busson is angry. He’s just looked at the latest returns of a hedge fund he used to invest in; it’s down more than 60 percent in the past nine months. 'That a–hole!' Busson says of the New York-based manager, as he walks out of the conference room at the Mayfair offices of EIM SA, the $11.5-billion fund-of-hedge-funds firm of which he is founder and chairman.
Though EIM yanked its money out of the fund in April 2008, when it was down only 25 percent, Busson says there are too many like it out there. 'If these managers are not focused on preservation of capital, they should not have the right to manage other people’s money,' he says.
"Busson’s opinion matters. Since he launched EIM in 1992, he has been instrumental in luring billions of dollars of public and corporate pension money into his and other funds of funds. The industry, which Busson helped pioneer, allows investors to spread their risk among hedge funds with different strategies.
"... 'Busson’s got a Rolodex that covers not just hedge funds and finance but also his contacts from his high profile in the media and philanthropy worlds,' says Ian Morley, founder of Wentworth Hall Consultancy, a London-based adviser to hedge funds and funds of funds. 'He’s become a celebrity larger than the hedge fund industry.'"
Busson has used some of his immense social cachet to help start Absolute Return for Kids, or ARK, a UK-based education charity whose programs, according to the website, "are highly focused on meeting pre-defined strategic goals in the areas of HIV/AIDS (South Africa, Mozambique), Education (UK, India) and Children in Care (Eastern Europe)." ARK's trustees are mostly drawn from within the hedge fund industry. A recent ARK charity auction (2006) included, according to Looktothestars, "A role in the next film made by Uma Thurman, a Damien Hirst painting, a Fiat 500 decorated by the artist Tracey Emin, and a private jet tour of the Château Cheval Blanc and Château d’Yquem wineries .."
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