Having Dinner In New York With My Old Friend

I visited New York City recently where I met with an prospective institutional client that is interested in my new hedge fund. After the meeting I got together with an old friend, whom I’ll refer to as “Harry”, for dinner. Someone who executes order for an institutional customer, like a hedge fund or mutual fund, is, like Harry, deemed a “Sales Trader.” I was one of his accounts, in my “Ron Pollack Bulldog Days”,he had an extremely successful career, and used to cover me. Though we did continue to keep in contact with each other, he and I retired from trading around the same period of time back in 2004. Harry had various business adventures after leaving Wall Street as did I, some were unrewarding, others were outright unprofitable. After some time, Harry began to miss playing and questioned if I would ever return to trading. I also missed that, in fact. In early 2008 I informed him I would return to managing money; he was thrilled and was eager to get back into it also. I had to suspend the start of my new fund because of the market’s gyrations late last year. I saw Harry last fall and he looked stressed, which is unusual for a guy who can handle million share orders in volatile stocks like clockwork. Firms were closing down everywhere, and he was relying on my account for his own return but that was not there. Shortlyl after I saw Harry, I met “Doug”, a gentleman that runs a small firm catering to hedge funds. I immediately thought of Harry and I put the two of them together. Doug gave Henry a trial opportunity, and Harry was very successful, so everything went well. After placing a few phone calls to some old accounts, he nabbed a big order and things only went up from there. Now after only 4 months on the job, Harry is one of Doug’s top producers. Thus, it was no surprise to see Harry beaming when we met for dinner. Good money and having a blast,he’s making money. I was very happy. Then Harry announced that dinner would be his treat, in fact he said, “Ron Pollack I am going to treat you every time you come to NYC!I was very pleased as we were at a great location, one of the city’s best steakhouses. Toward the close of the evening, I inquired with Harry, “Each day we have been listening to depressing stories about the end of Wall Street, getting rid of hedge funds and about the world coming to an end like we know it. Obviously things are messed up but I’d like your perspective on all of that changed in light of your recent success.Ron, there are a lot of people hurting right now and I truly feel for them, but I am living proof that if you’re good at what you do, have the willingness to work hard and apply yourself and are realistic in your expectations, you can make it and even flourish in times like these,His answer was refreshing and went something like this, he said. I’m not getting paid what I used to but I have nothing to complain about. People like us are fighters, we’re survivors and there’s business to be done. For people who can somehow find ways to be productive, buisness will always be open.Here is to you, Harry, my dear friend and confidant. Keep showing us how it’s done. signing off for now.

Updates & News About My Family: Ron Pollack

Last night was the school Christmas play: the art director is doing such a good job: it’s really gone from being amateur to almost pro. In addition, I was very pleased with the performance of my children. With Rachel’s complete confidence it was easy to see the excitement in her face. (She looked adorable in Nathan’s old Dalmatian costume). Levi and Lila also had fun on stage: they love to sing, and they also got to show some of their gymnastics skills. Levi has become crazy about tennis. He goes to tennis clinic almost every afternoon and he quit gymnastics. He’s going to be so good. The guy is a great all-around athlete, and always loved sports with a ball. (A mutual friend in the neighborhood who played collegiate baseball, would always comment on our six-year-olds amazing throwing arm, while they played catch, and when he was just a little older he only ever had an interest in shooting hoops.) This past summer it was golf. But we’ve been trying to steer him towards tennis for years. It’s something that we can all do as a family (whereas my basketball and baseball days are long gone). Eric is a player at our cities tennis center who just went pro, which has inspired Levi and even Mimi and I play more now.

Vacation In The Snow: Ron Pollack

We are leaving for 2 weeks of snow in Utah. We give them lots of DVD and Nintendo time — something they don’t normally get at home,the kids are electrified: they love going on the plane. And I love the plane too: once everyone is settled into their seats, with their electronic entertainment, I get to sit back, nap, and read a book. CNBC, No. Bloomberg, no. The telephone is unavailable.  No email. -Smile-
This is our first family ski trip since we’ve relocated from CO to UT. She’s been slaving for weeks to get ready,Mimi and I hope the trip is worth all the work. We had everything totally “dialed in” in Vail; now it’s like starting over. But once we figure out the logistics like where do we drop the kids, what time do we pick them up, what can we do with them after the ski day is over, and where do I go to find/replace their lost mittens, goggles, hats, etc? It’s going all turn out fine,I’m sure.  I can’t wait to see Rachel on skis. She was only 2 and hadn’t started preschool yet so it was a bit rough, when we tried last year. She wasn’t ready for ski school. Now it should be much easier, and she’ll be so adorable!

RON POLLACK AND PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD

When Ron was putting together his Vail fundraiser for the rescue workers of 9-11, he got a number of the local leaders and long-term residents to help: Vail mayor Rod Slifer and his business partner Harry Frampton (slifersmithframpton.com; eastwestpartners.com); skiing legend Pepi Gramshammer (www.pepis.com); Vail co-founder Dick Hauserman, etc. He even approached President Gerald R. Ford. Unfortunately, President Ford couldn’t attend, but Ron was invited up to his house in Beaver Creek to visit. (The secret service must have missed the fact that Ron was a well-known short seller when they cleared him. Or perhaps they decided to overlook it, since Ron was co-chairman of President Ford’s re-election campaign during Ron’s sophomore year at Yale.) During his visit, they talked about the President’s career, and how it was that he wound up going into public service after graduating from Yale Law School. Ron related that he had considered doing the same after graduating from Harvard Law, but that he went to Wall Street instead. Still, Ron wondered whether or not he should someday, perhaps when he retired from the hedge fund business. President Ford then gave Ron some fatherly advice: “Don’t. Instead, just enjoy your children, make a lot of money, and keep giving to charity.” It’s advice that Ron took to heart.

Real estate developer. Experienced investor.

As a child, growing up in Detroit, MI, learned computers and excelled in math at an early age. Aspired to be an architect and worked part-time in the family real estate business. However, in college, turned focus towards finance. After graduate school, went to Wall Street as an investment banker. Initial career focus was real estate finance, then became a hedge fund manager. Invested primarily in public companies, across a wide range of industries, especially technology. Also took selected equity positions in private companies. After a successful career, left money management to return to real estate.

Married with 5 children.

Active in various charitable organizations, such as Community Learning Center, Clearwater, FL (Chairman of the Board); New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Fund, New York, NY (Former Chairman); Vail Film Festival, Vail, CO (Advisory Board); Clearwater Academy International, Clearwater, FL (Advisory Board).

Education

M.B.A., Harvard Business School
1983

J.D., Harvard Law School
1983

A.B, Magna Cum Laude,  Economics & Political Science, Yale College
1979

High School:  Detroit Country Day School, Birmingham MI
1975, with Honors

Career History

Triangle Development Company LLC, Clearwater, FL
Jan 2005-current
Manager, Chief Executive Officer
·     Co-founded the firm
·     Lead investor
·     Developer of Island View Condominiums (a $275 million project in downtown Clearwater, currently under development).

Monitor Asset Management, Cambridge, MA and Clearwater, FL
Jan 2002 – Dec 2004
Chairman, Chief Investment Officer
·     Co-founded the firm
·     Asset Management affiliate of the Monitor Company Group, a leading strategic consulting, with over 1,000 professional in 30 offices around the world.

Bulldog Capital Management, Clearwater, FL
Jun 1992 – Dec 2004
Chairman, Chief Investment Officer
·     Founded the firm
·     One of the best performing equity hedge fund groups of the 1990s, and one of the largest hedge funds and most active technology investors in the southeastern US (with peak assets under management over $1 billion).

Feshbach Brothers, Palo Alto, CA and Clearwater, FL
Jul 1987 – May 1992
Research Analyst, Limited Partner
·     The firm was a pioneer in the hedge fund industry, known for its diligent research and short-selling expertise.
·     Responsible for a number of industry sectors, including banking, insurance and real estate.

Drexel Burnham Lambert, New York, NY
Sep 1986-Jun 1987
Associate, Corporate Finance: Real Estate
·     Member of the real estate finance team under Richard Frary.

Goldman Sachs, New York, NY
Sep 1983- Aug 1986
Associate, Real Estate Finance
·     Member of the real estate finance team under Dan Neidich.