Amaranth Founder Considering New Hedge Fund

Nick Maounis, the founder of the miserably flopped Amaranth Advisors, might be looking to get back into the Wall Street game, according to The Wall Street Journal. Amaranth lost $6.4 billion in a few days, in what is known as the worst disaster in the industry’s history.  Maounis is thinking about starting a firm with some former colleagues from Amaranth, people close to the matter say. The new company would manage money for investors directly, or help other funds run their businesses. However, it is unclear how much interest Maounis has in the endeavor. If a new company is launched, rather than distancing himself from the Amaranth name, two new possible names for the firm could be “Continuum” and “Segue,” sources say. Despite the huge blowup, in private, Maounis has expressed pride in the hedge fund’s risk management tactics, stating that the fund’s problems stemmed from an unexpected tumble in natural-gas futures prices. Talk of a new firm possibly launching doesn’t surprise some people. “There was a strong camaraderie at Amaranth,” says Sandy Gross of Pinetum Partners, a recruiter for hedge funds, who once headed human resources at the fund. However, Maounis faces regulatory and legal scrutiny. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have been conducting interviews with Amaranth personnel and various parties on Wall Street. It is unknown if any regulatory action will be taken.  The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.