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The types of distressed securities that he favors are uncorrelated to the stock and bond markets. His arbitrage positions, in the aggregate, he believes are largely insulated from a bear stock market. His long-term equity-linked positions are subject to their own execution but are also subject to stock market forces. Elliott attempts to hedge those exposures. Hedging is done by shorts in stocks, indexes, options, volatility positions, volatility swaps, and use of derivatives.

NOT STRESSFUL

Singer doesn't feel he will be faced with capacity constraints in the near term. Assets in his two funds—Elliott Associates for U.S. investors and Westgate International for non-U.S. investors and U.S. tax-free investors—currently total about $1.9 billion, their historic peak. "The financial markets have grown as we have grown. There are many opportunities. For example, during the Drexel years, the amount of paper in the high-yield issuance market was $150 billion total. In the 1990s, it has been $650 billion."

Singer doesn't find his work stressful. "Stress is not caused by managing over $1 billion; it is caused by people, relationships, mistakes, and losses." Singer has used that philosophy to run an investment style that attempts to minimize stress. His goal is to continue his path of delegating to smart, talented, risk-conscious individuals so that he can be creative in managing risk.

Balance is important to his life and work. "I'm an incremental guy, not a burnout guy." He can do what he is doing for the long haul. "I don't believe in retirement."

Outside of work, he runs a family foundation, is active on different boards, and is involved in social policy groups. He is a firm believer in the power of the individual to make a difference.

INVESTOR BASE

Singer estimates there are 300 investors, including individuals, fund of funds entities, and endowments. According to the 1999 NACUBO survey, one of those endowments is Vassar College.

On the transparency front, Singer provides investors with quarterly reports and annual audits but no information on exact position size. Tax