How JPMorgan lured a Buffett protégé

Welcome to FT Asset Administration, our weekly e-newsletter on the movers and shakers behind a multitrillion-dollar international trade. This text is an on-site model of the e-newsletter. Subscribers can enroll right here to get it delivered each Monday. Discover all of our newsletters right here.Does the format, content material and tone give you the results you want? Let me know: emma.dunkley@ft.comIn as we speak’s e-newsletter:How JPMorgan poached a Buffett protégéBoaz Weinstein’s hedge fund woesSilver value hits document highHow JPMorgan poached Buffett protégéWarren Buffett is perhaps going quiet, however Berkshire Hathaway could be very a lot within the highlight following a reshuffle on the $1.1tn conglomerate.Berkshire introduced that Todd Combs will depart the agency for JPMorgan Chase, alongside a sequence of wider management adjustments, which come as Buffett prepares handy over the reins to prime Berkshire government Greg Abel within the new 12 months.So how did the departure of Combs, one in every of Buffett’s protégés, come about? Effectively, at a JPMorgan Chase occasion in November, the financial institution’s chief government Jamie Dimon and Combs had been catching up in regards to the Wall Road agency’s not too long ago introduced initiative to take a position $10bn in firms essential to US safety, write Joshua Franklin and Eric Platt.Dimon was in search of an funding supervisor to run the financial institution’s Safety and Resiliency funding fund. It’s new terrain for JPMorgan, or certainly nearly any financial institution, to make use of its personal money to spend money on industrial companies.Combs, already a member of JPMorgan’s board of administrators, was intrigued by the job’s patriotic and eclectic profile.“He mentioned, ‘Inform me extra,’ and that was it,” Dimon instructed the Monetary Occasions. “I mentioned, ‘If you’re remotely on this, we’re all in.’”The talks culminated within the announcement this week that Combs would go away Berkshire Hathaway, the place he co-managed the $1.1tn conglomerate’s inventory portfolio, to hitch JPMorgan and work for Dimon. Combs’s future at Berkshire was unclear within the new post-Buffett regime that can take maintain subsequent month, however the function on the financial institution assures him a continued place on the prime of Wall Road.“He loves this firm, he actually enjoys this firm, he is aware of all of the senior individuals right here. It’s a pure house,” Dimon mentioned. “I feel he finds it unbelievably attention-grabbing to make use of his abilities in several methods.”Boaz Weinstein’s hedge fund slumpBoaz Weinstein is perhaps finest recognized of late for concentrating on British funding trusts. However the US hedge fund supervisor’s personal flagship funding technique has suffered losses this 12 months, extending a run of lacklustre returns for 2 of his key funds, writes Costas Mourselas.The $1.9bn flagship fund of Weinstein’s agency Saba Capital, which tries to make cash by bets on dislocations within the credit score market, was down about 6.5 per cent this 12 months as of November 21, in keeping with efficiency numbers seen by the Monetary Occasions.Weinstein is finest recognized for recognizing and buying and selling towards a JPMorgan credit score derivatives dealer generally known as “the London Whale” in 2012. The US financial institution suffered billions of {dollars} in losses because it tried to shut out giant positions available in the market, whereas Weinstein’s agency made large positive aspects.Saba’s major fund was up 3.4 per cent final 12 months and down 16.9 per cent in 2023. In 2022 it surged 22 per cent as equities and bonds offered off violently, with Weinstein saying on the time that international shares might be heading for a Japan-style bear market lasting a long time.Nevertheless, since then shares have largely loved a robust run. This 12 months, markets have rebounded from the turmoil triggered by US President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs in April, whereas wobbles in credit score markets have proved shortlived.Saba’s $1bn carry-neutral tail hedge grasp fund, which goals to protect traders from market downturns, is down 12.7 per cent this 12 months, in keeping with numbers seen by the FT. It misplaced 2.7 per cent final 12 months and 16.7 per cent in 2023. Saba declined to remark.The losses for the flagship fund distinction with Saba’s higher success in its high-profile activist campaigns towards closed-end funds managed by firms together with BlackRock and Eaton Vance within the US and Baillie Gifford and Janus Henderson within the UK. Chart of the weekSilver costs have punched by $60 per ounce for the primary time amid a historic rally pushed by a shortage of provide and a surge in demand from traders.The steel has greater than doubled in value since January, as years of undersupply, compounded by robust demand from industrial customers and traders, led to shortages and a extreme provide squeeze in October, writes Leslie Hook.Silver jumped 4 per cent on Tuesday to succeed in $60.4 per ounce, a recent document excessive. Gold additionally rose 0.7 per cent to succeed in $4,216 per troy ounce, barely beneath the document set in October.Expectations of a fee minimize by the US Federal Reserve final week had boosted valuable metals.“Underlying the transfer is the truth that we now have a market that has been undersupplied for the previous 5 years, and we nonetheless have regional shares dislocation,” mentioned Suki Cooper, analyst at Commonplace Chartered.Silver is utilized in jewelry, however demand has additionally boomed for industrial purposes comparable to in electronics and photo voltaic panels.In contrast to gold, silver is principally produced as a byproduct of different minerals, so miners haven’t been in a position to simply reply to the rising demand in recent times.5 unmissable tales this weekHedge funds betting on medicine shares have made bumper earnings this 12 months, as a latest wave of offers by large pharmaceutical firms drives the largest rally within the biotechnology sector in a decade.World banks and asset managers together with JPMorgan and Constancy are among the many companies funding a UK government-backed marketing campaign geared toward encouraging individuals to take a position.The MPs’ pension scheme has lower than 3 per cent of its fairness portfolio invested in UK shares, far decrease than personal sector friends, prompting claims that it’s making “a mockery” of efforts by chancellor Rachel Reeves to encourage funding within the London inventory market. Non-public credit score “is a purchaser beware” market, the pinnacle of Canada’s largest pension fund mentioned, warning institutional traders towards speeding into offers. Apollo World, which has greater than $900bn in property, has grown more and more bearish about expertise firms weak to synthetic intelligence, betting towards a number of giant loans to software program makers and reducing its publicity to the sector. And finallyA Mannequin of The Grand Budapest Lodge © Luke Hayes for the Design MuseumThe Design Museum is internet hosting Wes Anderson’s in depth archive in a retrospective exhibition targeted on his distinctive cinematic output, produced in collaboration with la Cinémathèque française. The show charts the evolution of Anderson’s movies from early experiments within the Nineteen Nineties to latest productions.The Design Museum, London, till July 26 2026Thanks for studying. You probably have buddies or colleagues who would possibly get pleasure from this article, please ahead it to them. Join hereWe would love to listen to your suggestions and feedback about this article. E mail me at emma.dunkley@ft.comRecommended newsletters for youThe Week Forward — Begin each week with a preview of what’s on the agenda. Join hereWorking It — All the things it is advisable to get forward at work, in your inbox each Wednesday. Join right here