Where have all the Wall Street playboys gone?
Is Gordon Gekko now a fitness fanatic with a heart or has he moved to the Midwest?
Gone are the days of Wall Street’s slick and brazen stock and bond salesmen wining, dining and questionably entertaining clients from major fund firms. Elite fitness studios like SoulCycle, Barry’s Bootcamp and Flywheel Sports are the new destination for after-hours dealmaking.
John Abularrage, head of Tullett Prebon Plc’s Americas unit, tells Bloomberg he takes clients to 5 a.m. sessions at Barry’s Bootcamp in Tribeca, to sprint and grunt.
“Some of them are more eager than you would imagine to trade a heavy dinner or drinks for a workout,” said Abularrage, 35. “When there’s a lot of entertaining to do for your job, you can get out of shape pretty quickly.”
Sporting a softer side is also in vogue with the masters of the financial universe.
Even a real-life inspiration for the ageless antagonist of the 1987 film Wall Street, billionaire and boardroom brawler Carl Icahn, is suddenly playing nice with his nemesis Bill Ackman.
Earlier this year, the two battled on cable TV, with bully Icahn comparing Ackman, a $20 billion man, to “a crybaby in the schoolyard.”
At a conference last week, 77-year-old Icahn (sort of) took off the mitts and tossed out a backhanded compliment to his 47-year-old rival: "Anyone who has made me a quarter of a billion dollars, I am not going to say bad things about."
Icahn is reeling in money from a bet on Herbalife, the nutrition and supplements company that Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management shorted by $1 billion.
Fear not, ye who relish the rogue! The bad boys of big money haven’t vaporized. But you may have to travel some 450 miles from Wall Street to find one.
Anthony Davian of Davian Capital Advisors in Akron, Ohio, is living up to the old school reputation in a decidedly anti-Wall Street style.
The Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation revealed that the Hedge Fund King of Akron -- who had been using YouTube videos, Facebook and Twitter to court new investors that Wall Street “smidiots” (a mashup of “smart” and “idiot”) would never go after -- is managing a litany of lies, and maybe not quite the $200 million he claims to control.
Morgan Stanley Bankers Give Back, Gain Skills (eFinancialCareers)
The bank’s Strategy Challenge volunteer program helps a dozen nonprofits expand their reach and overcome cost concerns. It also builds critical client-facing scenarios that can earn participants win leadership roles.
Greenwich has surpassed New York as priciest place in the U.S. to eat fancy sushi rolls, according to the new Sushinomics Premium Priced Index, which ranked the cities by their restaurants’ most expensive sushi rolls. New York is the most expensive city when it comes to spicy tuna and California rolls, says the Sushinomics Cost-of-Living Index for the second straight year.
New Role for Banking Comp Adviser (American Banker)
Steven Eckhaus is bringing a team from Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. In his new role, Eckhaus will create and chair a new executive compensation and benefits practice at the New York law firm.
Jupiter’s Absolute Return Fund Changes Hands (FINalternatives)
James Clunie will take over Jupiter Asset Management's £536 million Absolute Return fund in September, ahead of Philip Gibbs’ planned retirement in 2014. Gibbs, who joined Jupiter in 1997, already passed management of his Financial Opportunities fund to Guy de Blonay.
Eaton Vance Equity Chief to Retire (Bloomberg)
Duncan W. Richardson will retire from his role as chief equity investment officer in October after 26 years with the firm. Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Faust Jr. will lead the equity group until a successor is found.
SEC Nixes Falcone Settlement (Reuters)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected a deal between its enforcement division and legendary hedge fund manager Philip Falcone and his Harbinger Capital Partners. Falcone said in May that he would pay $18 million to settle two SEC lawsuits accusing him of market manipulation, giving preferential treatment to some investors and borrowing from his fund to cover personal taxes.
Buzz Around the Office
Call it Copclubbing (CollegeHumor)
No doubt these Danish cops have the NYPD beat. Riding on a hand-pulled giant stereo cranking "Sound of Da Police" is certainly stranger that New York’s finest blasting Darth Vader's theme song from Star Wars to combat crime.
List of the Day: Beat the Heat at Work
Sporting sweat won’t win you deals. Here are some tips to keep you cool and collected in a heat wave.
- Crank the AC. A Cornell University study found that at 77 degrees, employee output was 150% higher than when the office was 9 degrees cooler.
- Occupy a windowless conference room. Researchers from Harvard and the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School found that employees are less productive when they can see sunny, clear skies outside the office.
- Don't collaborate with a colleague who drinks iced coffee. Researchers from Yale University and the University of Colorado Boulder found that people who incidentally touched an iced cup of coffee perceived others as less warm and caring and acted less altruistically.
(Source: AOL Jobs)
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