Institutional money managers are prominent on the list of bundlers — supporters who agree to raise significant funds from friends, family and others — for Democratic candidates in the 2012 election, according to an analysis released Friday by the Center for Responsible Politics.
Investment managers well known to institutional investors that are supporting President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and other Democratic contenders include Ariel Investments' John W. Rogers Jr., chairman, CEO, chief investment officer and lead portfolio manager, and Mellody R. Hobson, president; Neil G. Bluhm, managing principal of private equity real estate manager Walton Street Capital; and Joshua L. Steiner, a senior adviser at private equity shop Quadrangle Group.
Hedge fund managers on the Obama list include David Shaw, founder and chief scientist, D.E. Shaw Group; Eric Mindich, CEO, Eton Park Capital Management; Scott A. Nathan, managing director at Baupost Group; Michael Sacks, CEO of fund-of-funds manager Grosvenor Capital Management; and Orin S. Kramer, managing partner of Boston Provident. Mr. Kramer is former chairman of the New Jersey State Investment Council, Trenton, which advises on management of the state's $74.7 billion in pension assets.
These money managers are among 244 supporters whose names were released by the Obama campaign on July 15, which is available on CRP's website, www.opensecrets.org.
The 80 bundlers who come from the financial services sector were responsible for a little more than one-third, or about $12 million, of the approximately $35 million raised in the latest election cycle to date for Democratic candidates for federal office, said Michael Beckel, a spokesman for the CRP and author of the new study.
Mr. Beckel confirmed in an interview that of the 80 bundlers from the financial services industry, 44 are from the investment management and securities industries.
