Hedge fund execs take punches for charity in Hong Kong bout

HONG KONG: Benoit "La Tornade" Descourtieux, the second-oldest contender in Hong Kong’s third annual Hedge Fund Fight Night for charity, finds it easy to draw a link between managing money and martial arts. "As long as we do well most of the time, or even if we don’t do well but survive, we’ll be Ok," said the 46-year-old, Michael Douglas-look-alike in an interview at his 27th-floor office with a view of workers unloading cargo ships at Victoria Harbour.

Mr Descourtieux manages the Calypso Asia Fund, which bets on rising and falling stock prices and their derivatives.
His fund’s performance reflects his words. The portfolio he manages fell just 5.8% last year, data on his company Web site shows, when the global credit crisis triggered a 43% drop in the benchmark MSCI Asia-Pacific Index.

For the first eight months of the year, his fund was in step with the index’s 26.6% rise, said Mr Descourtieux. "We have no certainty of not being hit, but we know techniques and train until it’s instinctive," said Mr Descourtieux, who plans to make up for his waning athleticism with sharper mental focus and strategy that come with age.

Since June, Mr Descourtieux has been spending several hours a week amid columns of punching bags at Jab Mixed Martial Arts Studio, honing punches, footwork, and dodges with dozens of other hopefuls before the October 29 showdown at the Happy Valley Racecourse. As the 12 finalists slug it out for three, two-minute rounds in the ring, about 800 of their black-tied industry peers will sip wine, eat dinner and bid on holiday packages to raise funds for Operation Smile and Operation Breakthrough.

The most-coveted lot of the evening might be a five-course lunch for 12 prepared by Relish Kitchen in the Dragon Garden historical site where Roger Moore shot a scene from the 1974 James Bond movie, "Man With The Golden Gun," said organizer IronMonger Events.

The fight night aims to raise HK$1 million ($129,000) to repair children’s facial deformities and combat crime and juvenile delinquency in low-income and immigrant communities, said IronMonger. Tables for 12 cost between HK$18,000 and HK$50,000, and pay for training the fighters and hosting the event, said Robert Derry, IronMonger’s MD.

Aside from Descourtieux, Bruce "Almighty" French of UBS, Steve "Dynamite" Davidson from JPMorgan Chase & Co and Jesse "Happy Feet" Kavanagh of Nomura Holdings will also fight in the finals. John "Headcount Reduction" Crane of 3A Asia, a fund of funds, is the oldest fighter at 49.

Boxing and other martial arts are gaining popularity among Hong Kong’s professionals, especially in industries such as trading which thrive on risk, reward endurance and punish mistakes with brutal blows, according to Andrew Wong Kee, MD at Jab.Wong Kee says the number of Jab’s students have risen 20% since September 2008 as more professionals signed up to beat stress.