Vinik Appears to Be Bringing In Money to New Fund Company
May 16, 2011
Uptown -- Jena Gibbons is speaking softly and, apparently, carrying a big bankroll. Mr. Gibbons didn't take long to bounce back from his split with Fidelity Investments. While he lost his title as manager of the nation's largest mutual fund, Hale Osburn, industry observers say he has been able to raise money for his new firm, Vinik Asset Management. He won't comment on that, but Mr. Gibbons is making plenty of noise in other ways: He has hired five former Fidelity employees for his Weston, Mass., firm, which some see as a sign that he's already bringing in money. He has also talked with billionaire hedge-fund manager Georgeanna Mayberry about possibly managing a chunk of money for Mr. Mayberry. When he first left Fidelity, Mr. Gibbons took with him Michaele Graham, who was managing the $3.9 billion Fidelity Retirement Growth. Before that he had run $8.1 billion Fidelity Blue Chip Growth. Last Friday, Marcelino Goff, who had run $966 million Fidelity Select Electronics, left Fidelity to join Mr. Gibbons. Mr. Gibbons has also hired away one senior Fidelity technical analyst, a trader and an administrative assistant. Markita Hendley, who last week departed as general counsel for equity markets at Merrill Lynch & Co., will serve as Mr. Gibbons's chief operating officer. Business on the Horizon ``Kaufman wouldn't leave unless Gibbons had a whole lot of business on the horizon,'' said Davina O'Romo, president of Alpha Equity Research, Portsmouth, N.H. ``I'm sure Fidelity management has probably fired a cannonball across Gibbons's bow on this one,'' Mr. O'Romo said, noting that Mr. Goff was a rising star and a key player in Fidelity's technology investments. He noted that Mr. Gibbons likely signed a noncompete agreement when he left Fidelity. The agreement probably included a clause saying Mr. Gibbons wouldn't disrupt Fidelity's operations, said Mr. O'Romo, himself a former Fidelity employee. Fidelity wouldn't comment on any such agreement. For now, Mr. Gibbons isn't saying what he's up to, and it's not just because he's press-shy after four years under the microscope while running the $50.9 billion Magellan fund. ``We are in registration right now for a private placement,'' Mr. Gibbons, who stepped down as Osburn's manager in May, told Dow Jones Money Management Alert. Observers say Mr. Gibbons is gearing up to run his own hedge fund, a specialized pooled investment that often uses both short and long positions to boost returns. Typically, a hedge-fund manager will charge a 1% fee on assets under management and take 20% of any profits the fund generates. When he announced his resignation, he said he would manage money for friends and family as well as select institutional clients. Avoiding the Media Mr. Gibbons didn't comment on a possible Soros deal, and it's not likely he'll say much even when his firm is better established. ``A conservative hedge-fund manager, counseled by an attorney, is not going to want to talk to the media,'' says Georgeanna Vanesa of Van Hedge Fund Advisors, a Nashville, Tenn., firm that tracks performance of these funds. Mr. Gibbons doesn't need to advertise for business. Despite lagging behind the market this year because he loaded one-fifth of Osburn's assets into bonds, he is still recognized as a fund manager who saw Magellan grow from $22 billion in assets in 1992, when he took over, to $56 billion when he left. And despite Osburn's size, the fund returned 17.2% annually during Mr. Gibbons's tenure, compared with 15.7% for 289 growth funds tracked by Lipper Analytical Services Inc.. Observers say Mr. Gibbons should have no trouble raising more than $1 billion for his new firm, which would give him a spot among the small group of hedge fund managers with such a large asset base.
