Hedge Fund Honcho John Thaler Makes 3.4% Annual Return

From the Observer: John Thaler is best known for his tech-heavy hedge fund picks, but this morning he cashed out on a more old world investment: real estate. The JAT Capital manager just sold his condo combo at 450 East 83rd Street for $5.2 million, according to city records.  Mr. Thaler bought the two 17th-floor apartments at the Cielo in 2006 and 2009, for a combined total of almost $4.4 million. After an average of five years of ownership, his profit—exclusive of any taxes, fees or renovation costs—comes out to about $800,000, or an average return on his initial investment of about 3.4 percent per year.

While it beats inflation, this return pales in comparison to the gains—and losses—that Mr. Thaler has taken on his high-flying hedge fund. Down just 6 percent in 2008, a year that the major indices were pummeled with massive losses, Mr. Thaler made gains over the next three years—20 percent in 2009, 10 percent in 2010 and 17 percent in 2011….

Read all about it at http://observer.com/2013/05/hedge-fund-honcho-john-thaler-makes-3-4-annual-return-on-the-upper-east-side/