you find your first meeting?” Jenks asked Michael over the stand-up buffet lunch that followed the meeting.
“It was interesting to get an insight into the full financials for the first time.” Michael tried to contain his real thoughts. In truth, he’d never expected the profitability of the firm to be as high as he had just discovered, but he had to act as though making three million a year was something that was perfectly normal.
“I don’t want you to feel too much pressure to reel in the Spar deal.” Jenks dunked a jumbo shrimp into some bright red dipping sauce before devouring it in one mouthful.
“You know I’ll do my best to get it over the line, but if the client withdraws from the deal…”
“It would really help the firm’s profile if we could make it into the top five this year. I can’t tell you what that would mean to me. It’s always been an ambition of mine to see the firm up there.”
Michael smiled. “Don’t worry, Art. I get it. No pressure, but don’t drop the ball on this one.”
“That pretty much sums it up.” Jenks tapped Michael on the shoulder before moving on to chat with some of the other partners.
Michael stayed for another fifteen minutes before giving in to the pressure of work waiting for him back in his office. Rachel brought him a coffee, and he started reviewing some of the legal due diligence work his team had already done on the Spar deal. He asked Rachel to close his door as she left so he could block out the noise coming from the open-plan area just outside his room. When the associates hit the phones at the same time, their raised voices could be distracting.
Minutes later, there was a slight tap on his door, and Glen Towers popped his head around. “Sorry to disturb you,” he said. “I wondered if you had a moment to go over the research on Grannis.”
“Sure.” Michael pointed to the chair on the other side of his desk. “Grab a seat. I’d like to hear how it went.”
Michael shifted his weight and cleared his throat. While Towers was an inexperienced lawyer, he was a bright young man, not long out of Harvard Law School. Although he hoped Towers had found some interesting general background on Rondell’s hedge fund, he had a nagging concern as to what else he might have uncovered in the process.
Towers handed over a small stack of papers. “It seems they keep a pretty low profile.”
Michael didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. “Talk me through what you have anyway.”
“There’s not a great deal to be learned from their filings. They have about three hundred and fifty million dollars under management, two directors, and two offices—one off Wall Street, the other in San Francisco. They appear to have a strong record of returns, but these have come off quite a bit recently. Unfortunately, I’ve learned very little about their individual stock trades. I suspect they don’t buy much in their own name.”
“You think they use nominee accounts?”
“I suspect so. I can try digging around that a little more if you want.”
“I don’t need it that badly. It would have been interesting to learn what they’d bought, but it’s not essential.”
“Okay.”
“Who are the directors?” Michael asked, feigning ignorance.
Towers placed his copy of the papers on the desk and tucked his hands under his thighs. “This is where it gets a little tricky.”
What had Towers discovered? Michael sat forward. “Go on.”
“The one on the West Coast is a guy called Andrew Rubin. Seems he’s worked for a few second-rate investment management firms out there. From what I can tell, he has a clean enough record. It’s his name that appears on most of their filings, and I suspect that’s so they can present a decent public image.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there are…” Towers hesitated, searching for the right words. “There are issues with the other director, the one here in New York.”
Had Michael screwed
“It was interesting to get an insight into the full financials for the first time.” Michael tried to contain his real thoughts. In truth, he’d never expected the profitability of the firm to be as high as he had just discovered, but he had to act as though making three million a year was something that was perfectly normal.
“I don’t want you to feel too much pressure to reel in the Spar deal.” Jenks dunked a jumbo shrimp into some bright red dipping sauce before devouring it in one mouthful.
“You know I’ll do my best to get it over the line, but if the client withdraws from the deal…”
“It would really help the firm’s profile if we could make it into the top five this year. I can’t tell you what that would mean to me. It’s always been an ambition of mine to see the firm up there.”
Michael smiled. “Don’t worry, Art. I get it. No pressure, but don’t drop the ball on this one.”
“That pretty much sums it up.” Jenks tapped Michael on the shoulder before moving on to chat with some of the other partners.
Michael stayed for another fifteen minutes before giving in to the pressure of work waiting for him back in his office. Rachel brought him a coffee, and he started reviewing some of the legal due diligence work his team had already done on the Spar deal. He asked Rachel to close his door as she left so he could block out the noise coming from the open-plan area just outside his room. When the associates hit the phones at the same time, their raised voices could be distracting.
Minutes later, there was a slight tap on his door, and Glen Towers popped his head around. “Sorry to disturb you,” he said. “I wondered if you had a moment to go over the research on Grannis.”
“Sure.” Michael pointed to the chair on the other side of his desk. “Grab a seat. I’d like to hear how it went.”
Michael shifted his weight and cleared his throat. While Towers was an inexperienced lawyer, he was a bright young man, not long out of Harvard Law School. Although he hoped Towers had found some interesting general background on Rondell’s hedge fund, he had a nagging concern as to what else he might have uncovered in the process.
Towers handed over a small stack of papers. “It seems they keep a pretty low profile.”
Michael didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. “Talk me through what you have anyway.”
“There’s not a great deal to be learned from their filings. They have about three hundred and fifty million dollars under management, two directors, and two offices—one off Wall Street, the other in San Francisco. They appear to have a strong record of returns, but these have come off quite a bit recently. Unfortunately, I’ve learned very little about their individual stock trades. I suspect they don’t buy much in their own name.”
“You think they use nominee accounts?”
“I suspect so. I can try digging around that a little more if you want.”
“I don’t need it that badly. It would have been interesting to learn what they’d bought, but it’s not essential.”
“Okay.”
“Who are the directors?” Michael asked, feigning ignorance.
Towers placed his copy of the papers on the desk and tucked his hands under his thighs. “This is where it gets a little tricky.”
What had Towers discovered? Michael sat forward. “Go on.”
“The one on the West Coast is a guy called Andrew Rubin. Seems he’s worked for a few second-rate investment management firms out there. From what I can tell, he has a clean enough record. It’s his name that appears on most of their filings, and I suspect that’s so they can present a decent public image.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there are…” Towers hesitated, searching for the right words. “There are issues with the other director, the one here in New York.”
Had Michael screwed
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