How a Legendary Mutual Fund Got Crushed by One Really Bad Decision
http://time.com/money/4323449/sequoia-fund-valeant/?xid=frommoney_soc_socialflow_facebook_money
Sequoia Fund had come to own more than 10% of Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
If you follow the markets at all, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about some hedge funds and mutual funds that have been clobbered by their holdings in Valeant Pharmaceuticals [time stock-symbol=vrx], which is down nearly 90% from its peak share price last July.
Bill Ackman at Pershing Square has been the subject of a lot of media attention, perhaps because of his utterly perfect hair and his tendency to hold press conferences nearly indistinguishable in length from hostage situations. But perhaps the saddest, most shocking loser in the collapse of Valeant is the venerable Sequoia Fund [time stock-symbol=sequx], managed by the legendary value-investing shop of Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb.
Actually, “legendary” doesn’t begin to describe Sequoia. Bill Ruane was a good friend of Warren Buffett’s, and when Buffett elected to shut down his partnership back in the 1960s, he recommended that investors place their money in Sequoia.
That was then. Today, Ruane, Cunniff’s sole remaining named partner, Robert Goldfarb, has resigned in disgrace after 45 distinguished years at the firm, and the company’s reputation may be damaged beyond repair. The Sequoia Fund has seen more than half a billion dollars in redemptions, and as a result it has been forced to redeem shareholders “in kind,” transferring stock held in the portfolio to them rather than taking the tax hit themselves to sell shares to create sufficient cash. It’s totally legal, but it’s a mark of total desperation — a death throe, perhaps.