Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - July/August 2008 - (Page 21)

Interview Uwe Eberle Man’s Hope T he mighty Man Group has a small problem. Though the London-based giant manages close to $80 billion in alternative assets, it has had scant luck gaining much of a foothold in the U.S. The ﬁrm’s specialty — structured products in guaranteed funds, which promise to preserve investor capital no matter what — makes up almost half of Man’s business. But such offerings don’t appeal much to U.S. institutional investors, most of which consider them high on fees and low on returns. Man has historically done little to alter that perception. In December 2007, however, the ﬁrm chose Uwe Eberle, 43, to replace the retiring John Kelly as CEO of New York–based Man Investments, USA, signaling a change of course. Eberle’s cheerful and adventurous nature — he took a year off in 1999 and traveled South America with only a backpack and some climbing gear — doesn’t disguise an assertive and astute business mind. Eberle bridles at the suggestion that Man can’t compete with such rivals as New York–based Blackstone Group, which manages more than $27 billion in hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, much of it on behalf of U.S. institutional clients. And he rejects Man’s reputation of being little more than a remarkably efﬁcient gatherer of assets. He insists that the ﬁ rm has big ambitions in the U.S., though he acknowledges that the American institutional market- By Imogen Rose-Smith for the U .S. place is notoriously slow to warm up to outsiders. “We just needed to get over here at full force, and that is what we are doing right now,” Eberle says. Man’s following in the U.S. is small by most accounts (it will not divulge precise numbers). In a step forward — albeit a modest one — the ﬁ rm raised about a quarter of the assets for its new With almost $80 billion $ 62 3 m i l l i on C h i n a Methane Recovery Fund in assets under from North A merican institutions and familymanagement, wealth ofﬁces. London-based behemoth Eberle has also been courting the U.S. investMan Group is looking ment consultant industry, the gatekeeper for most to the New World U.S. pension funds, foundations and endowments, to help fuel its and has succeeded in getcontinued growth. ting Man on many consultant lists of approved managers. That is a crucial step if it is to gain broader acceptance. Eberle says Man recently won an assignment from a pension fund — he will not disclose the name — to create a customized fund of hedge funds likely to include managed futures. CTAs, in JULY/AUGUST 2008 • INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR’S ALPHA • 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - July/August 2008

Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - July/August 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor Longs & Shorts Pension Corner: Mr. Big Goes Small The Good Guys: Adopt This School! Interview: Man's Great Hope Cover Story: The Gentleman Activist Strategies: The New Bankers Profile: Staying Alive Research Center: The Best of the East The Asian Sensations Alpha Bytes: Into the Light Unhedged: Commentary: Speculating on Washington

Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - July/August 2008

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