Money is literally burning holes in pockets.
You might almost be brought to a modicum of sympathy for hedge fund managers in these difficult days, at least if you don’t know any. Bonuses are down (a bit), returns are down (some places), there are no women around to (allegedly) objectify and worse, other than your wife, and what’s the fun in that? Even if you are going back to the office, it’s going to be depressing. Even for this least sympathetic group, a modicum of compassion might rise up in your breast because you, unlike many of them, have the capacity for empathy.
If you do, in fact, find yourself feeling such a thing, you can officially stop.
Chief among the surge in new clients have been hedge fund managers, said Pizzigoni. He described one personal delivery to a hedge fund manager, formerly at Goldman Sachs and based in St John's Wood, who bought a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980. "We did a £70,000 part-exchange deal sat in his garden." Another fund manager asked Pizzigoni to deliver vintage Rolex Daytonas…. Especially among this demographic, said Charles Lemonides, CEO of New York-based hedge fund ValueWorks, many have been recoiling at being unable to show off their gilded lifestyles.
"It's a job that takes a curious mix of ego and humility ... in order to believe you are going to do well you have to bring a huge amount of ego to the table," he said. "It's an interesting moment right now; no-one gets to eat at a fancy restaurant right now and no one gets to flaunt how well they're doing…."
Global online marketplace LiveAuctioneers.com saw bids and sales values more than double versus a year ago. Chief Executive Phil Michaelson told Financial News he saw the gains "across art, collectibles, jewelry, fashion and furniture categories...in addition to increased demand for traditional luxury goods, the interest in memorabilia has spiked. Perhaps [that's] due to a longing for the more-pleasant times we’re all missing…."
"You can't go out and spend, so you stay in and spend," [one hedge fund manager] said.
Hedge fund managers in lockdown pile into luxury goods they can’t flaunt [FN]