FrontPoint Partners
FrontPoint Partners was a hedge fund that became well known for its bet against subprime mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis under Steve Eisman. It was based in Greenwich, Connecticut, with other offices in New York and London.
| Company type | Hedge fund |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | November 2000 |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Steve Eisman (fund manager); Chip Skowron (portfolio manager) |
| Products | Hedge fund |
| AUM | $7 billion (November 2010) |
| Parent | Morgan Stanley |
FrontPoint was a registered investment adviser in the United States and was wholly owned subsidiary of investment bank Morgan Stanley. After Eisman left the firm, there was an investigation around insider trading. In August 2011, Frontpoint portfolio manager Chip Skowron pleaded guilty to insider trading and obstruction of justice. The remaining fund saw a significant decline in assets under management. It shut down most of its investments in 2011.
Morgan Stanley filed a civil lawsuit against Skowron in 2012, calling Skowron a “faithless servant”. In 2013, Judge Shira Scheindlin of the U.S District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled on a motion for summary judgment that Skowron must forfeit $31 million—100% of the compensation he earned from the firm between 2007 and 2010—to his employer, Morgan Stanley.