He must have poor marketing. I know several ex-prop guys who were each given $30-50MM allocations via fund of funds and investors with a 20-25% a year 5 year record.
Quote from Diamond Geezer:
and after reading Barton Biggs book if your are still not convinced of the way the industry is going (away from small funds toward huge funds - the so called "institutionalization" of the business), then grab Barrons magazine of March 26th (the weekend before last).
Barrons interviewed several existing and wannabe managers in that edition. One guy, John Maloney the co-founder of M&R capital, an investment firm (not a hedge fund) with more than $550 million in assets under management and 25 year track record managing pension fund and high net worth individuals money is struggling still to get his hedge fund off the ground. This despite generating 12-14% returns after fees in a long only strategy for his clients. That's a real track record with real money.
I quote "Four years after his (hedge) fund opened its doors, it had less than $10 million despite strong performance." And, "It's been a frustratingly slow process" he says.
Now, at $10 mill AUM after costs and taxes, this guy is making no real dough on his fund. How would you compare your chances next to his? The person who posted that you have maybe a 1% chance of getting this done is being wildly optimistic in my opinion. I'm not judging you I know nothing about you except that you sound very naive in your posts.
Best of luck though!