York Capital Names Two Eventual Successors for Founder Jamie Dinan
The nearly $17 billion firm named Bill Vrattos and Christophe Aurand its future leaders
Jamie Dinan has named two successors to lead his hedge-fund firm York Capital Management in the future.
The nearly $17 billion firm named Bill Vrattos and Christophe Aurand its future leaders and promoted them to co-chief investment officers, effective July 1. They have respectively led York’s debt and European funds for years. Mr. Aurand also assumed more responsibility for York’s flagship multistrategy fund in 2016.
York also named its chief investment officer Dan Schwartz to co-chief executive with Mr. Dinan.
“Bill and Christophe are outstanding long-term investors who have been instrumental to the Firm’s investment success,” Messrs. Dinan and Schwartz wrote in a letter to investors May 17. “We embrace them as core members of York’s senior leadership team and as our future successors in managing our firm.”
The letter said that despite the change at the top, portfolio management for York’s funds wouldn’t change.
York previously described Mr. Vrattos, Mr. Aurand and a former partner, Michael Weinberger, as the next generation to lead the New York firm, according to investors. Mr. Weinberger left early last year to start his own hedge fund.
Mr. Aurand had threatened to leave the firm in the recent past, according to a May report by the website Dealbreaker. Some investors said an exit by Mr. Aurand would have been concerning.
Weak performance and investor defections have broadly pressured York. Its assets under management shrank from $26 billion in 2015 to $17 billion last year, leading to efforts by Mr. Dinan to staunch outflows. Its funds have posted strong returns this year.
York’s flagship fund bets on deals and other corporate changes around the world and gained 13% for the year through May, according to a person familiar with the matter. That outstripped its benchmark the S&P 500, which gained 8.7% for the same period, including dividends. Investors in that fund remain under the fund’s high-water mark, or the point at which investment gains make up for losses. A person familiar with York said most of the money invested in the firm is above its high-water mark.
Mr. Aurand’s European Opportunities Fund was up was up 10% for the same period while Mr. Vrattos’s bond fund was up more than 5%, roughly on par with their benchmarks.
York sold a 30% stake to Credit Suisse Group AG in 2010. Some investment staffers had their contracts locked-in following the deal, with several of these employees departing as their lock-up periods expired, investors said. Those terms ranged between five years and ten years, according to people familiar with the matter.