Industry Updates

Canadian hedge fund veteran Eric Sprott looking for successor to run asset management unit

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

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Opalesque Industry Update – It was announced a couple of days ago that Sprott Inc. had hired Peter Grosskopf as its new CEO and as a member of the Company's Board of Directors, effective September 7, 2010.

In conjunction with this appointment, Eric Sprott, who founded the firm in 2001, will assume the position of Chairman of Sprott Inc. and CIO of Sprott Asset Management LP. Sprott A.M. is one of Canada's best known hedge fund management group, with around US$5bn in AuM.

65-year old Eric Sprott will provide Mr. Grosskopf with five million common shares of Sprott Inc. held by his personal holding company Holdco, and Mr. Bambrough, President of Sprott Inc., with three million common shares of Sprott Inc. also over the next three years.

Sprott Inc. is an independent asset manager headquartered in Toronto, Canada, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that operates through three distinct business units: Sprott Asset Management LP, Sprott Private Wealth LP and Sprott Consulting LP. The asset management unit manages mutual funds, hedge funds and discretionary managed accounts.

During a conference call yesterday, Eric Sprott revealed that he is on the hunt for someone to replace him on his hedge funds now that a successor has been named for Sprott Inc., saying that although it is a more difficult to find a replacement compared with his mutual funds, he hopes to have someone in place in a few years.

“We are experimenting with various partners here [Sprott] both in research and the portfolio management area. But ultimately we may have to go out and find someone…We have to think that we’ll do something within five years,” he was quoted as saying by The Globe and Mail.

Sprott, which specialises in commodities, is also reportedly planning to launch a silver bullion fund soon.

Eric Sprott, who is bullish on gold and silver but bearish on the general economy, told The Globe and Mail in an interview last month: “I think you might end up getting necessary inflation in food, energy, precious metals, where there could end up being real shortages.”

His views are similar to that of Marc Faber, aka Dr Doom, who joined Sprott A.M. as director in January this year.

– B. Gravrand.

See our June Opalesque Exclusive: Dr Doom recommends investing in Asia, agriculture, water, precious metals, as "the crisis has yet to come" interview

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