Ying – Chen Lee
Hawaii Pacific University
04.08.2013
Case Summary
Leslie Brinkman is a CEO and founding partner of the hedge fund, Versutia Capital. She spent late 2002 and early 2003 assembling her team and launched the fund in early 2003. When it came to 2003 and 2004, the firm performed well. She and her team were receiving congratulation from the fund’s investors regarding Versutia’s 21% gain in 2004 versus the S&P 500 stocks index gain of 11%. However, in early April 2005, the fund had just finished its first “down” quarter, having lost 6% of its value while the S&P 5000 index had lost only 2%. Leslie thought back over each significant fund investment that had declined substantially during the first quarter. She wondered whether the firm’s performance was indicative of broader issues relating to flawed investment processes, personnel inadequacies, deficiencies in organizational design or shortcomings in her management style. Before …show more content…
Leslie built a complete idea of culture, she ruled almost everything from the workers project to their personal ideas. Undoubtedly, this is an enclosure and it made people feel stressed. In this case, it was mentioned that the atmosphere at Versutia was frantic and exciting. The working space was relatively cramped. “Phones were constantly ringing. Research analysts frequently went into Leslie’s office to review a model or new stock idea. There were ongoing interactions between Leslie and the trading desk”. One of the research analysts remembered, “You could always hear the trader yelling out stuff to Leslie and Leslie yelling out to the trader asking questions about stick movements or shouting orders” Another analyst described the work environment as it was a very stressful job. (Leslie Brinkman at Versutia