WHO: Robert F. Hill Jr., 33
WHAT: Launching a long-short equity money management firm after gaining a reputation as a premier long-short investor while at the Virginia Retirement System.
WHERE: Richmond, Va.
WHEN: Expects to finish the year at VRS, which he joined in 1988 as financial analyst working with computer systems. Was promoted several times, ultimately becoming director of equities in a 1995 reorganization.
WHY: Rebel with a cause: spreading the word on long-short equity management, while overseeing the in-house management of $4.5 billion in equities and $2 billion in long-short equity.
Mr. Hill doesn't fit the mold of the typical pension executive or money manager. He's "a bit of debonair spirit . . . who's been known to wear cowboy boots to work," said Waite Rawls, chief risk officer for Ferrell Capital Management.Moreover, Mr. Hill is clearly "intellectually curious," he said.
But Mr. Hill takes a measured approach. Frank Salerno, chief investment officer for the structured products area of Bankers Trust Co., said Mr. Hill is "definitely a unit of return for a unit of risk kind of guy."
