Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson has lost a bankruptcy and distressed securities specialist who replaced his right-hand man Paolo Pellegrini five years ago.
Dan Kamensky joined the $18 billion Paulson & Co. in 2009 and replaced Pellegrini, who left the firm in 2008 to start his own hedge fund.
“Dan Kamensky decided to leave [the firm] to pursue new opportunities,” Paulson & Co. said. “Dan contributed to successful distressed debt investments for the firm. We wish him the best in his new endeavors.”
According to Business Insider, Kamensky—a partner in the firm—was instrumental in executing some of Paulson & Co.’s most prominent bankruptcy investments, including Lehman Brothers and Residential Capital.
News of Kamensky’s exit comes as Paulson posted its second-worst year in 2014.
Bloomberg reported both event-driven and credit funds—accounting for $7.8 billion of total assets—stumbled. Paulson’s flagship Advantage Plus fund fell 36% last year, sources told the news organization, while funds betting on company mergers barely broke even.
These bad bets placed Paulson & Co. among the bottom performing managers in 2014. According to Preqin, Arcstone Capital’s fund focusing on Indian equities performed the best last year, with a 225.21% return.
The data also showed three-quarters of the 20 top performing hedge funds used an equity strategy, followed by 10% employing relative value strategies.
Prior to his tenure at Paulson & Co., Kamensky served as senior vice president at Barclays Capital and at Lehman Brothers. He also holds a bachelor’s degree and a JD from Georgetown University.
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