BOSTON (Reuters) – A prominent consulting firm that sent clients into the collapsed Bayou hedge fund said it was blinded by the managers’ bold lies, but pledged to stay in business after reviewing how it evaluates funds for clients.
“We have to do an objective assessment of what went on here,” said Charles Gradante, who runs the Hennessee Group with his wife and business partner, Lee Hennessee, about how the firm fell for a multiyear fraud that was only interrupted this summer when clients noticed $450 million were missing.
To help overhaul the process, Hennessee hired law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP to review how the New York-based consultants select hedge funds for clients like DePauw University, Gradante told Reuters on Friday.
