Trading places

I am not sure what I expected the hedge fund investor would say to my question: "What is the most unusual thing in your industry?"

Maybe he would list the most esoteric investments he had come across, or which manager owned the gaudiest yacht, or worked the hardest. Instead, this: “One manager in Mayfair keeps an orange chemical suit and grappling rope in his cupboard, and a Vespa fully fuelled in the basement. Just. In. Case.” This was years before recent leaks at Japan’s Fukushima reactor, and before petrol hit 140p per litre, so it seemed excessive but, either way, this manager was prepared to abandon London, at speed, In. Case. Of…. well, almost anything. Latterly, higher UK taxes might have led managers t...