The Hedge Fund Hunger Games

When you’re in the business of seeding new funds, how do you find out which prospects have talent? By making them fight
From left: John LaChance vied for a $5 million investment; Martin Rosenburgh traded from home on an iMac; a 20-year veteran of GM, Stephen Longo wanted a new careerPhotograph by Grant Cornett for Bloomberg Businessweek

The first idea that Tim Harrington, Brian Tomeo, and Spencer Deering had for a business was to gather up brand-new hedge funds and nurture them. They’d invite them to make use of their office in Miami Beach, where they could get advice, legal help, expensive software, and eventually an introduction to investors, with the three benefactors collecting a fee. The second idea, the one the trio went with, was the exact opposite. They would assemble the hedge funds and make them fight.

Harrington got into hedge funds in collegeGrant Cornett for Bloomberg Businessweek