Fall of Healthcare Hedge Fund Star

In 2001, Joseph Skowron faced what may have been more than just a career dilemma -- should he pursue a future in medicine? Or go for the money and head to Wall Street? Skowron, at the time in a residency program at Harvard no less, and ignoring the pleas of his advisor to continue on the path toward becoming an orthopedic surgeon, left it all behind and set his sights on New York City.

His story is a risible throwback to the yuppie '80s:

Dr. Skowron became a health-care analyst for the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LP before quickly moving on to another well-known hedge fund, Millennium Partners LLC. By 2003, he had joined FrontPoint Partners LLC, a hedge fund where he soon would co-manage more than $1 billion in health-care investments. With the big jobs came a 10,190-square-foot home in Greenwich, Conn., whose value was assessed in 2010 at slightly less than $6 million.

Dr. Skowron traveled in elite political and social circles, as a major donor to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, according to campaign finance records, and a member of the exclusive Monticello Motor Club, an automotive resort and track outside of New York City. The club's sign-up fees start at $25,000 and among the members are racer Jeff Gordon and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, the president of the club said.

Along the way, the 41-year-old husband and father amassed a collection of luxury cars that has included a blue Ferrari 458 and a black Porsche Cayenne, according to state records.

On Nov. 2, life in the fast lane came to a halt. The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled an insider-trading case, charging French doctor Yves M. Benhamou with sharing confidential drug-trial data with a hedge fund.

The fund in question? FrontPoint Partners. The amount they prevented in losses through the secret information? Allegedly $30 million.

Skowron was a man heavily involved in the philanthropy world, doing medical stints in Cuba, Kosovo and India. Since the announcement of the insider trading case, however, Skowron has also taken leave from his volunteer medical position with AmeriCares.

Insider trading cases are always difficult to anaylze and must be taken on a case-by-case basis before one can pass judgement. Yet, the same question is almost always asked -- why are those individuals who least need the money seem the most prone to engaging in these actions to get a larger cut of the pie?

Update on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 5:48PM by David Callahan

The New York Post has unearthed additional details about Joseph Skowron that are not exactly flattering -- to put things mildly. According to an article in the newspaper:

FrontPoint Partners appears to have missed a host of red flags when it hired disgraced money manager Joseph "Chip" Skowron in 2003, including a poor investment track record and questions about his trustworthiness. . . . [A] high-priced background report conducted on the FrontPoint health-care manager suggests Skowron's colleagues and bosses viewed him as inexperienced and "untrustworthy," prior to his jump to FrontPoint.

Steve Lisi, Skowron's boss at Millennium Partners, said Skowron "worked out very badly — we fired him," according to the scathing report, published by First Advantage Investigative Services, which conducts due diligence on hedge funds for investor clients. Skowron lost Millennium "a lot of money" and wasn't a "team player by any means," Lisi said.

The New York Post does not say who provided the report on Joseph Skowron or what motives they may have had in releasing this information. Frankly, the story seems a bit like a hit job on Skowron and whoever made the decision to hire him at FrontPoint. Boy, is it damning stuff. The report also suggests that Skowron may have poached employees from another hedge fund to work at FrontPoing.

And finally  this:

A doctor who worked with Skowron during his residency at Harvard University's orthopedic residency program in Boston through 2001 also had scathing comments about Skowron, including accusations he abandoned patients at Boston's Children's Hospital on his last day there by walking out without alerting staff.

"I have a couple of kids and I think, 'What if my kid were in the ER and they were calling all day to find a doctor and that guy was nowhere around?' "

James Kasser, head of the residency program at Children's Hospital, told The Post it was "probably best for everybody" when Skowron left, but added there were no ethical violations

Ouch.