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Published on: 8/20/2004
Last Visited: 8/20/2004
"Vultures do have a bad connotation but I'm not sure if it's deserved," said Rob Heinkel, professor of finance at UBC's Sauder School of Business. "They want what all investors want - to buy something below its intrinsic value," he said."These are the guys who will gladly give you the haircut." They usually deal with owners who are highly motivated to sell, Heinkel said, but such funds aren't necessarily dishonest or unethical. "They're looking for deals," he said."And they can put together a significant amount of money in a relatively short period of time if the opportunity is there." They're also not unusual either.Heinkel said all major New York brokerages have at least one division that could be termed a vulture fund - buying distressed assets that have no liquidity with the goal of achieving big gains.