It is reported that Pequot Capital will go out of business in next few months (from CNBC). Pequot was headed by Art Samberg (one of the Barrons Rountable 2008 expert), who would have dismal performance if he followed his Barrons Roundtable pick. Quote his best and worst picks (loss > 80%):
Company Ticker 1/4/08 12/31/08 Change
MEMC Electronic Materials WFR 81.40 14.28 -82.5
Qualcomm QCOM 37.03 35.83 -3.2
Focus Media FMCN 55.71 9.09 -83.7
Dogan Yayin DYHOL.Turkey 4.44 TRL 0.66 TRL -85.1
Interestingly, the latest WSJ article still brags about his success. (If he is really that successful, why not stay in the business?) Quote WSJ:
His flagship fund, Pequot Partners rose almost 2% through April this year, compared with a drop of 1.8% for the Standard & Poor’s 500. Last year, it dropped 16% last year, a return that bested the 19% loss of the average hedge fund. Over his 22 years as a stock picker, Mr. Samberg racked up annualized gains of 16.8% after investor fees were deducted, compared with 8.5% for the S&P 500.
Reference: marketfolly on Pequot. The Pequot Capital site is down now.