Ira Sohn conference fetes top managers

May 27, 2010 | By Jim Kim

The Ira Sohn Investment Research Conference has become something of a must-attend for big institutions who want some insights into the strategies of top hedge fund (hedge fund news) managers. It's the sort of place where reputations are made.

Just look at David Einhorn, who predicted the demise of Lehman Brothers (Lehman Brothers news) in 2008, a move which made him an even better-known figure in the industry. The year before, Bill Ackman predicted the insurance monopolies would take some large lumps, which they did.

This year's event was a bit more downbeat than in previous years. One speaker lamented "the clowns" in Washington whom he sees as anti-business. But this is not what institutions really want to hear. They invest in hedge funds because they are supposed to be able to generate returns no matter what.

There were some stock calls discussed. Steven Eisman, of FrontPoint Partners, talks about shorting education stocks. Einhorn and others made the case for shorting Moody's and other credit rating agencies. let it be known that he has bought 150 million shares of Citigroup. We'll see how these plays turn out. Ira Sohn was a Wall Street analyst who died of cancer at 29.

For more:
- here's a Reuters wrap-up
- a look at what hedge fund managers are betting on. Article