“There’s nothing nefarious about it,” said Vincent Catalano, a 40-year veteran of the investing and hedge fund businesses who is now managing member of private-equity firm Adriatic Capital Partners. Charitable events, especially those put on by New York-area institutions, are great places to make new connections. “It’s just good networking,” he said. “Nothing wrong with it.”
Not all hedge fund donations are meant to gather assets. Ken Griffin, founder of $27 billion Citadel, announced a $125 million gift to the University of Chicago to support financial aid for students and research in its distinguished economics department, which will bear Griffin’s name. He credits the success of his firm partly to the partners who went through the university.
Give To Give
“I am so grateful for the education that I’ve had, and I expect over the remainder of my life to give several billion dollars to higher education,” Griffin told Bloomberg TV in November. “I think this is so important to our society that every single young man and young women have access to our best schools.”
Then there are other managers like Daniel Ades, founder of Kawa Capital Management, who say they just give to give.
“My wife and I are quite active philanthropically and I have never raised a dollar from any of the institutions we give money to,” he said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.