Bridgewater’s new boss

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SPEAKER_2 (0:20)

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Rob Armstrong (0:36)

You Pushkin.

The largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, has a new boss. Does it matter? This is Unhedged, the markets and finance show from the Financial Times in Pushkin. I'm Rob Armstrong, coming to you from Unhedged World headquarters in New York City. I am joined down the line from London by the indefatigable bank editor, Ortenca Aliaj. Aliaj, Ortenca Aliaj. How was that last one?

Ortenca Aliaj (1:11)

That was perfect.

Rob Armstrong (1:14)

Ortenca, welcome to the show.

Ortenca Aliaj (1:15)

Thank you for having me, again, even though I've moved country.

Rob Armstrong (1:21)

Just as a way to kick things off, for our listeners, what is Bridgewater? Who is Ray Dalio? Who's near Bardea?

Get us caught up.

Ortenca Aliaj (1:30)

Okay, so Bridgewater, world's largest hedge fund based in Connecticut. It's about to celebrate its 50th year.

Nothing we would know about, Rob.

Rob Armstrong (1:41)

Yes, reputed to be something of a cult, but has made a lot of money. How's that?

Ortenca Aliaj (1:48)

Exactly. Ray Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater.

He started it 50 years ago and has a reputation for being a mercurial person who loves Burning Man and recently attended a Taylor Swift concert in Singapore in which he seemed to endorse her for maybe president.

Rob Armstrong (2:12)

Outstanding.

Ortenca Aliaj (2:13)

Oh, and near Badea.

Rob Armstrong (2:14)

Oh, wait. No, no. I've got a question. Is it true that you've been on Ray Dalio's submarine?

Ortenca Aliaj (2:20)

I haven't.

Rob Armstrong (2:21)

Oh, and that's very disappointing.

Ortenca Aliaj (2:22)

Do you want someone else for the show?

Rob Armstrong (2:24)

Yes. The show's over. Thank you for coming, listeners.

Your next guest will be someone who's been on Ray Dalio's submarine.

Ortenca Aliaj (2:35)

Near Badea.

Rob Armstrong (2:36)

I bet he has.

Ortenca Aliaj (2:38)

Yeah, that's fake news. I don't know if that's true.

But near Badea is the new CEO of Bridgewater. He was installed in the job a year ago, so it's been a year since he came on board, and he's embarked on this, quote unquote, overhaul of the world's largest hedge fund.

SPEAKER_2 (2:58)

How was that?

Rob Armstrong (2:59)

That is perfect. And he used this kind of Dr. Frankenstein metaphor of replacing the organs of the old Bridgewater and placing them into a new, better body. And he kind of screamed, it's alive, recently in the pages of the FT. Am I getting that right?

Ortenca Aliaj (3:18)

It's 80% there.

This actually reminds me, Matt Levine had a great bit on the story after we wrote it. He talks about how there's a strange quote where he says, everything has to get rewired. It's like taking a brain and a heart out of a human and then planting a new brain and a new heart, which is slightly graphic. Matt Levine writes, okay, the management committee at D. Shaw, another hedge fund for our listeners, never went around being like we had to murder David Shaw and remove his heart, but Bridgewater is an unusual place even now. I think that sums it up.

Rob Armstrong (3:56)

Very good. Tell us a bit more about the new CEO, Neer Bardea.

Ortenca Aliaj (4:00)

Yeah. Neer Bardea joined the fund in 2015 He had previously never really worked in finance. He was an ex-military officer, and he had served as an advisor to the Israeli mission to the United Nations during the 2014 General Assembly.

His background is very much not finance related.

Rob Armstrong (4:24)

This is a remarkable story in a way.

One day, you're marching around in the desert or what have you, and then you're doing diplomatic things. Ten years later, you're running the largest hedge fund in the world. This is an amazing, how does one accomplish a transformation like this? Asking for a friend.

Ortenca Aliaj (4:47)

Yeah, it is remarkable. It has been highlighted by a lot of people that he's had this kind of staggering ascent and that then brings up the question, well, is he truly leading Bridgewater or is he the face of Bridgewater whilst the strings are being pulled by other people?

Rob Armstrong (5:03)

Okay, we'll get to that question. But before we can establish what this guy is doing in his job, let's talk a little bit about what Bridgewater actually does.