Top analyst in line to launch her own fund
FINANCIAL analyst Meredith Whitney, who rose to prominence for a prescient call on Citigroup’s mortgage troubles in the lead-up to the financial crisis, is launching a hedge fund, sources said yesterday.
Whitney is raising money for a long/short equity hedge fund, which bet on stocks rising or losing value. It could not be determined how much capital Whitney has raised so far.
The new fund is called Kenbelle Capital LP, according to an April regulatory filing with the New York State Division of Corporations. Other regulatory filings show Whitney requested to deregister her Meredith Whitney Securities brokerage on August 28.
Whitney rose to fame on the eve of the financial crisis when she issued a research report saying that Citigroup would have to slash its dividend, raise capital, sell assets or all three because of mounting losses from its mortgage holdings.
In 2010 Whitney started to predict a wave of municipal bankruptcies across the United States, but that has not come true despite some notable municipal bankruptcies.
Whitney did not respond to a call to her Madison Avenue office.