Notable & Quotable: Hedge fund/family office saga continues; death of Greek tycoon

Another hedge fund converts to a family office

Yet another hedge fund is to return client money and convert to a family office. Chesapeake Partners, a Baltimore-based fund set up by Traci and Mark Chesapeake in the early 1990s, thinks life might be easier as a family office. Reports say the fund lost 13% of its value in 2015 and is down 8.2% through May of this year. Chesapeake follows a long line of other hedge funds turning themselves into family offices. But the traffic isn’t all one way, Michael Milken is converting his family office into a hedge fund.

Family office of Brazilian billionaire bets on local economy

Peninsula Participacoes, the family office of Abilio Diniz, one of Brazil’s best known businessmen, is taking direct investment bets on the biggest economy in Latin America. A Bloomberg report said Peninsula bought a controlling stake in a Brazilian e-commerce wine company and also bought a bakery chain earlier this year. Diniz, who made his fortune in the retail sector, reckons the Brazilian economy is poised for recovery and his recent acquisitions shows he’s putting his money where his mouth is…

Tragic death of Greek tycoon

Kyriakos Mamidakis, the co-founder of Mamidoil-Jetoil, was found dead at his Athens home earlier this week, according to media reports. Mamidakis, 84, founded the business with his two brothers, which at its height was one of the most successful petroleum trading companies in Greece and the Balkans. But the near collapse of the Greek economy in the last seven years took its toll on the business and Mamidoil-Jetoil filed for bankruptcy two days before Mamidakis death.