International Herald Tribune – Do you remember a time, only a short while ago, when virtually anybody could start a hedge fund? It seemed so easy: Billions of dollars were being thrown around like confetti, even at first-time managers. Greenwich, Connecticut, the wealthy New York suburb that became an enclave for hedge fund managers, overflowed with multimillionaires and more than a few billionaires.<\/p>\n
Anybody could make money with their eyes closed. Or so it seemed.<\/p>\n
Ron Insana was one of the people who chased that dream. Insana spent more than a decade as one of the most prominent anchormen at CNBC, the financial news channel on cable television that has become a constant presence in just about every Wall Street office and trading room. He was a mere journalist, to be sure, but he regularly interviewed some of the titans in business, trying to make sense of the daily gyrations of the market.<\/p>\n
In March 2006, Insana left the network to try his hand at becoming one of those titans, setting up a fund to help investors get into hedge funds, a so-called fund of funds. Paul Kedrosky, a writer and investor, said at the time that Insana’s move "reminded him a little of Lou Dobbs going to Space.com at the peak of the dot-com bubble."<\/p>\n