Farallon Capital

Farallon was founded by Tom Steyer in January 1986 with $15 million in seed capital. Before starting Farallon, Steyer had worked for San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, as a risk arbitrage trader under Robert Rubin at Goldman Sachs, and in Morgan Stanley's corporate mergers and acquisitions department. Farallon was one of the first hedge funds to raise money from a university endowment. After Yale's investment proved to be lucrative, many other college endowments and pensions began to invest in hedge funds. ==Investment strategy==

Farallon claims to have pioneered absolute return investing, a model focusing on potential returns as well as risk adjusted returns. Farallon invests in various asset classes including value investments, credit investments, merger arbitrage, real estate related investments, and direct investments in both developed and emerging markets. As of 2005, Farallon reportedly holds positions anywhere from two to five years. In 1999, Farallon bought a direct stake in an Argentine shoe company, which helped stabilize profitability as Argentina recovered from an economic crisis. In 2002, Farallon bought control of Bank Central Asia (BCA), an Indonesian financial institution, for $531 million. At the time, many of Indonesia's banks were on the verge of collapse because of bad loans made during President Suharto's term and the country was seen as dangerous for foreign investment. In the year before Farallon's investment in Indonesia, $286 million flowed into the country as foreign direct investment. After Farallon exited, that number grew to $1 billion in 2007 and $4 billion in 2008. In March 2010, Farallon announced plans to refocus its investing on risk arbitrage and credit wagers and lessen its equity exposure. In addition, the firm said it would disclose more information to clients to "foster a more open culture at the hedge fund." ==Investment history==

In 2007, Farallon in partnership with Simon Property Group and other hedge funds purchased Mills Corp, a real estate investment trust. The fund is one of the largest shareholders in Japanese electronics company Toshiba, with a stake of more than 6 percent. Farallon is also one of the top-10 shareholders in Acceleron Pharma. ==Company==

In 2006, it was reported that Farallon Capital was the largest hedge fund in the world in 2005. Steyer named the firm after the Farallon Islands off the coast of the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to his promotion, Spokes oversaw portfolio management and strategy for Farallon exclusive subadviser Noonday Global Management. Spokes opened Farallon's first international office in London in 1998. Today, Farallon has 21 principals, 13 managing directors, and 35 investment professionals who oversee the firm's day-to-day operations and management. Offices Farallon operates offices in San Francisco, São Paulo, Tokyo, Singapore, London, Hong Kong. ==See also==