Soros Names Former BlackRock Executive Anderson CIO

Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Author: Katherine Burton, Bloomberg

Soros Fund Management, the hedge- fund firm founded by billionaire George Soros, named BlackRock Inc. co-founder Keith Anderson as chief investment officer, a post vacant since Soros's son Robert stepped aside in July.

``Keith will assume responsibility for managing all investment activities,'' according to a Jan. 14 investor letter from Robert and his brother Jonathan, deputy chairmen of the New York-based firm. Anderson, 48, starts next month.

The Quantum Endowment Fund, which oversees $17 billion, returned 32 percent last year, outpacing the average hedge-fund gain of 10.4 percent. George Soros, 77, took a bigger role in investing than in previous years. Robert, who became chief investment officer in 2005, had been considering giving up the job for some time, according to a memo sent out in July. He continues to manage investments for the firm.

As chief investment officer, Anderson will oversee Soros's 14 managers and more than a dozen external managers.

Anderson left his job in December at BlackRock, where he was global fixed-income chief and managed Obsidian, the firm's fixed-income hedge fund. The offshore version of the fund returned 30.6 percent in 2007 through November.

At the time of his departure, New York-based BlackRock, the largest publicly traded U.S. asset manager, said he was planning to start his own fund. Anderson owned 40,675 shares of BlackRock as of Oct. 2007, according to an SEC filing, worth about $8.3 million today.

Michael Vachon, a spokesman for the firm, declined to comment.

Executive Turnover

Last year, the Quantum Endowment Fund made money investing in Chinese and Indian markets. Chinese shares, as measured by the CSI 300 Index, climbed about 164 percent last year. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index jumped about 49 percent. The fund also profited from trading currencies. The dollar fell against every major currency last year.

Anderson is the fourth investment chief at Soros since the philanthropist decided to investment more conservatively at the Quantum Endowment Fund following the departures of traders Stanley Druckenmiller and Nicholas Roditi in April 2000.

In addition to Robert, the other investment chiefs were Robert Bishop, previously a principal at hedge fund Maverick Capital Ltd., and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Jacob Goldfield.

Three chief executive officers also have left in that time. They are former Bankers Trust Corp. Treasurer Duncan Hennes; William Stack, once chief investment officer for equities at Dresdner RCM Global Investors; and Mark Schwartz, former chairman of Goldman Sachs's Asia unit.

``He's had major people come in and out of there,'' said Hank Higdon, managing partner of recruiting firm Higdon Partners LLC in New York.

Before founding BlackRock in 1988, Anderson worked at First Boston Corp. and Criterion Investment Management Co.

Anderson earned a bachelor's degree in economics and finance from Dudley, Massachusetts-based Nichols College in 1981, and a master's degree in business from Houston-based Rice University in 1983.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Burton in New York at kburton@bloomberg.net