Ray Dalio recently published a list of 295 principles as a philosophical roadmap of sorts for his Bridgewater Associates L.P. In the coming months, he may be sorting his options in a street atlas as well, as his company potentially mulls moving a few towns down I-95.
Bridgewater”™s headquarters decision could be the most significant in the commercial real estate market in the second half, real estate brokers say. The hedge fund currently occupies three separate buildings in Westport, including its titular headquarters at One Glendinning Place just off the Merritt Parkway and offices in Westport”™s trophy Nyala Farms Corporate Center, where it expanded into 56,000 square feet of space only last year.
The latter location is also home to Terex Corp. and Pequot Capital Management, a hedge fund that is being wound down in the wake of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
Bridgewater could not be reached for comment on its lease plans.
Founded and led by CEO Dalio, Bridgewater was ranked the second-largest hedge fund in the world by Institutional Investor and the industry trade publication AR, trailing only funds operated by JPMorgan Chase. Dalio recently disclosed to the online trade publication Dealbreaker that the company has 1,000 employees.
Space in Stamford?
The commercial real estate website LoopNet does not currently list an available property in Westport that could accommodate all Bridgewater employees in a single location. This has led to speculation that the hedge fund could be assessing its options for a new location ”“ with Stamford the most obvious candidate due to large blocks of available space and its closer proximity to New York City and the wealth of financial talent there.
Bridgewater currently operates a shuttle bus for workers commuting from New York City, where it had been based until 1981 when it relocated to Wilton, and then to One Glendinning Place the following decade.
Stamford is currently home to one major hedge fund: SAC Capital Advisors, which occupies a single building in an office park on Long Island Sound. SAC was ranked by Institutional Investor and AR as the third-biggest fund in Fairfield County and 27th largest globally.
On the move
Under Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Connecticut has been generous with incentives for companies moving into or within Fairfield County. White Plains, N.Y.-based Starwood Resorts & Hotels Worldwide Inc. booked nearly $100 million in incentives to relocate to the Harbor Point neighborhood in Stamford under development by Norwalk-based Building & Land Technology. And Gartner Inc. received a large package of incentives to stay put at its headquarters nearly adjacent to SAC.
Real estate brokers say Silver Point Capital L.P. had considered reserving space at the Harbor Point development in Stamford”™s South End, but tabled its plans after the credit crisis hit. Silver Point is still said to be investigating its options, but it is not known how seriously it is still weighing Stamford as a location versus the hedge fund magnet of Greenwich, where it is currently based.
If Bridgewater is a company that could be on the move, it is the case in more ways than one. The company”™s assets under management have dropped from $165 billion in 2006 to $75 billion in 2009, a trend that Bridgewater Associates says reflects a shift from managing traditional accounts to more volatile commingled funds, which require less funding for the same risk-return target.
In the past month, Bridgewater has hired two senior executives from outside the hedge fund industry: James Comey, the former general counsel of Lockheed Martin Corp., and Julian Mack, who led the Midwest offices of consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
