Metro

NY funders wined and dined by Conn. gov

Timothy Selby, president of the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable, came away impressed. (james messerschmidt)

Several New York hedge-fund honchos crossed the border last night for a date with the governor of Connecticut to talk about moving in with her.

Representatives of 15 city-based financial firms were lured to a private meeting in Darien with Gov. Jodi Rell to hear her pitch to move their businesses to the Nutmeg State — and avoid a tax on their industry that’s being considered in New York.

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The money managers shared hors d’oeuvres like crab cakes, shrimp and fried calamari with Rell, then dined on filet mignon and drank cocktails, beer and wine from an open bar at The Water’s Edge at Giovanni’s II, a swanky steakhouse.

The governor was brought in through the back door at about 5:30 p.m., while the New Yorkers arrived in small groups in several black cars from the nearby train station.

“It’s nice to be wanted,” said Brett Cohen of JGB Capital, located on Madison Avenue.

In New York, “there’s a hostile atmosphere of continuing to tax the finance firms,” he said. “It’s nice when a governor of a state says welcoming things. It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Jeffrey Bortnick, a Fifth Avenue tax attorney, said he was there to see “whether it’s worth it” for his clients to head to Greenwich.

Also on hand was John Brunjes, of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, which has an office in New York. Brunjes is a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association.

Representatives from firms Acorn Derivatives and Taconic Capital also attended.

The Post revealed on July 22 that Rell had written Timothy Selby, president of the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable, inviting him “and a few of your colleagues to meet with me.”

Rell brought some aides, and Connecticut hedge-fund managers were there as well.

One attendee, who declined to give his name, said Rell “rolled out the red carpet.”

Selby said Rell told the group “how important the industry was to Connecticut.”

Robert Eick, from the Connecticut Development Authority, said last night, “We are just laying the groundwork now. There are more discussions to be had.”

In Rell’s invitation to the New Yorkers, she said a proposed $50-million-a-year tax on hedge-fund managers was still alive in Albany, and that was reason enough to consider leaving New York.

“I want you to know . . . that my invitation to move your business here is not only still open — it is in earnest,” Rell wrote in the missive.

In June, New York Gov. Paterson and key legislative leaders in Albany endorsed a plan to begin taxing the so-called “carry” — a performance incentive for generating profits — of hedge-fund managers who work in New York but live in other states.

Last week, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told The Post “there’s a good chance” that the tax won’t be included in the final budget deal when it’s wrapped up in the next few weeks.

But hedge-fund managers have expressed concern that the proposed tax hasn’t been stricken from the budget plan yet. Its removal is contingent on reaching other compromises, Albany insiders said.

Mayor Bloomberg, who opposes the tax, privately called some key hedge-funders asking them to stay in New York after Rell’s shot across the bow.