高盛神奇小子光環褪色

????“我們正在盡可能快地贖回盡可能多的資金，” 一位2008年投資了伊頓公園的投資者表示。那一年簽約的投資者們都對伊頓公園寄予厚望。2007年是明迪奇最輝煌的一年，通過做空次貸，估計實現回報率達到了35%-40%，執行相似策略的約翰?鮑爾森、凱爾?巴斯等人也賺了不少錢。接著，在市場直線下跌的2008年，明迪奇再次讓投資者嘆服：其基金跌幅僅為10%-11%，不同的基金單位類別具體跌幅存在差異。

????2008年伊頓公園募集資金達20億美元左右，但時至今日，所有這些投資者扣除費用后的累計投資回報率基本為零。截至2011年底，伊頓公園已有三年未踏準市場節拍，投資表現黯淡。該基金不只是去年跌了11%（遠遠不如對沖基金平均5%的跌幅，比標準普爾500指數基本的平均表現更是差遠了），之前也有兩年也很糟糕。2009年大部分時候明迪奇都看空，錯過了年內的強勢反彈，到年底估計只增長了5%，2010年有約9%的增幅，但去年他看好并增倉的金融股損失慘重。

????值得一提的是，他的基金表現也比不上很多同樣從高盛風險套利業務出來的前同事所創立的基金。丹?奧奇的主基金僅下跌了0.58%，理查德?佩里的佩里國際資本公司（Perry Capital International）下跌了7.57%，而弗蘭克?布羅森的Taconic Capital事件驅動型基金也只跌了2.7%。自2004年創立至今，伊頓公園扣除績效費后的累積回報率僅略高于7%。

????2010年，明迪奇在年度投資者會議上試圖娛樂投資者，模擬了一個他與知名電視主持人查理?羅斯的訪談。但對于投資者而言，更值得關注的是，他決定將鎖定期縮短為13個月，外加三年滾動鎖定期——但這只針對全新的投資者。該基金還引入了所謂的“回顧”期，在這期間，投資者可以改變主意，并決定在規定的通知期后60天拿到錢。這里有個陷阱：到時候拿到的不是1/3，只有1/6。

????和很多由前高盛合伙人經營的基金一樣。伊頓公園也擁有強健的基礎設施以吸引機構資金。2008年以后，這類黏性資金一直是所有對沖基金極力爭取的對象。這樣的策略似乎奏效了。Trim Tabs的數據顯示，去年截至11月底，對沖基金業資金凈流入603億美元，雖然全年對沖基金平均下跌了5%。資金凈流入完全來自直接投資，其中以養老基金為主，截至11月底向對沖基金注入了697億美元。這些投資者調整投資配置的節奏相當緩慢，或許正好能拯救埃里克?明迪奇。

????"We are redeeming as much as we can and as fast as we can," says one investor who invested in Eton Park in 2008. To those who signed on that year, Eton Park looked like a winner. In 2007 Mindich had his best year ever, gaining an estimated 35% to 40% based on the subprime shorts that drove returns for folks like John Paulson and Kyle Bass. Then in 2008, the year of the market's freefall, Mindich impressed investors by losing a lot less than others: between 10% and 11%, depending on the share class.

????Eton Park raised about $2 billion in 2008, but all those investors have just about broken even, after paying fees. The end of 2011 marks the end of a three-stretch of lousy performance and bad market timing by Eton Park. Not only did it lose 11% last year -- far more than the average 5% among hedge funds and way below the S&P 500's break-even performance -- the loss followed two dismal years. Mindich was bearish for much of 2009, so he missed the great rally, ending the year with a gain of an estimated 5%. He chalked up about 9% in 2010, but last year his bullishness led him to load up on financial stocks, which tanked.

????Notably, he did worse than many of the funds whose founders also hailed from Goldman's risk-arbitrage desk. Dan Och's master fund was down .58%, Richard Perry's Perry Capital International declined 7.57%, and Frank Brosen's Taconic Capital event-driven fund fell 2.7%. Since inception in 2004, Eton Park has gained a little more than 7%, net of performance fees.

????In 2010, Mindich tried to entertain investors by channeling his inner star with a mock interview between himself and Charlie Rose at the annual investor meeting. More noteworthy to investors, however, was his decision to trim the lockup period to 13 months, with the three-year rolling lock -- but only for brand new investors. The firm also introduced what it calls a "look back" period, which allows investors to change their mind and decide to take their money out 60 days after the required notice period. There's a catch: Instead of taking out a third of the capital at that time, they can only take out a sixth.

????Like many of the funds run by ex-Goldman partners, Eton Park is renowned for its solid infrastructure, designed to attract institutional money. That's the kind of sticky money all hedge funds have been courting since 2008. It seems to be working. Last year, the industry ended November with $60.3 billion more in its coffers, despite the average 5% performance loss for the year, according to Trim Tabs. The net increase came entirely from direct investments, largely from pension funds, which plowed $69.7 billion into hedge funds through November. Such investors are notoriously slow to change investment allocations, and that might just be Eric Mindich's salvation.