ANCHORS AWAY! FUND BOSS’ YACHT ON BLOCK
A high-profile hedge fund manager whose fund has had to wrestle with poor performance has put his 142-foot yacht on the block.
In the latest sign that circumstances are rapidly changing for one of Wall Street’s most colorful characters, United Capital Markets founder John Devaney has put “Positive Carry” on the market in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is seeking $23.5 million for it, according to the yacht broker’s Web site.
The sale is quite a setback for Devaney, who has been photographed with the yacht in a number of stories written about him over the years.
The Post has learned that Devaney is also trying to unload a 16-bedroom Aspen, Colo., property he bought in November. He is trying to get $16.5 million for that asset; he paid $16.25 million, according to reports.
Key Biscayne, Fla.-based Devaney, long one of the most conspicuous consumers on Wall Street, also has a Gulfstream jet, a waterfront mansion and a helicopter.
The yacht broker handling the sale told The Post that it was “a fairly recent listing, so it’s too soon to talk about market interest.”
Devaney received a jolt earlier this month when the $620 million hedge fund portfolios he runs were forced to suspend investor withdrawals.
The $40 million he might get for his properties would help offset some of his personal losses. Devaney had $100 million in the troubled fund prior to the collapse in the asset-backed securities markets that his Horizon ABS funds specialize in.
Prior to the “gates going up,” the fund was down 5 percent at the end of May. The market has since taken an even sharper turn downward. Bond values for many lower-rated asset-backed securities are off as much as 75 percent this year.
The Street.com reported Friday that Devaney has retained law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to begin developing a defense strategy should angry investors sue Horizon.
In addition to the Devaney family’s erstwhile $100 million, Horizon also holds between $80 million and $90 million in cash from CompuCredit – a subprime lender in which Devaney once owned a nearly 11 percent stake.