Perry Partners Apologizes for First Loss

We’re sorry.

That’s the message the hedge fund manager and political power player Richard C. Perry sent to his investors recently after his firm, Perry Partners, experienced its first annual loss in its 20-year history.

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In September, Mr. Perry was featured in a glowing profile in Fortune magazine that called him “one of the most successful investors of our time.” In the article, Mr. Perry, who is known for having hosted a meeting between then-presidential hopeful Barack Obama and Caroline Kennedy at his Manhattan penthouse, said he saw opportunities buying bank debt issued by companies involved in leveraged buyouts.

That turned out to be one of many wrong bets. According to the letter, part of the fund’s negative performance in the fourth quarter came from “investing prematurely in U.S. leveraged loans on an unhedged basis.”