by Paul Mampilly
The Sovereign Investor
“What’s your edge?” the pretty blonde asked me.
That morning, it was a young woman from a major French bank. The previous day, it was a chic man from an exclusive Swiss financial institution. It was nothing new. These banks always sent the same fresh-faced men and women in sleek, dark Euro-styled suits, armed with checklists in beautiful leather binders. Their job: to vet hedge fund managers like me. I’ve had to endure endless interviews with an army of them, once meeting 10 times in just one day.
At every meeting, I was asked the same question about “our edge,” a reference to a hedge fund’s secret sauce.