One day before Argentina either defaults or bows to his demands, hedge fund mogul Paul Singer ruminated on his 13-year-old tango with the South American country and suggested he would never give up on their debt dance.
“When we first wrote to you about the Republic of Argentina, Barack Obama was still an Illinois State senator, a company called Google had just patented a new search algorithm and Elliott’s assets under management were $2.5 billion,” Singer wrote in his second quarter letter to investors, which The Post has obtained.
Right — Obama is now president, Google is one of the most valuable companies in the world, Singer’s Elliott Management controls $23 billion and he’s one of the highest-paid hedge fund managers on the planet.
Through June, Elliott’s offshore fund gained 4.1 percent, with the domestic portfolio up 4.6 percent following a risk-averse strategy in an environment Singer thinks is way too frothy.
As for the showdown with Argentina, Singer dryly noted that “complex, labor-intensive situations are not everyone’s cup of tea.”
Argentina has until Wednesday to comply with a US court order requiring it to pay creditors led by Singer, who spurned debt swaps after a 2001 default, at the same time it pays other bondholders who agreed to exchange their debt.
In his letter to investors, Singer said he’s willing to continue battling Argentina in the courts.
“If litigation becomes necessary in the course of enforcing our contractual rights, then we will not shy away from it. And if publicity is also a part of that equation, then so be it.”
When Singer targeted Argentina in 2001, he warned his investors that the fight could be “lengthy” — and he was right.
“Unfortunately, here we are in the summer of 2014, and it is looking very much like that period of time could be lengthier still. … Now Argentina has to decide if it wants to comply with that promise or go into default on all of its external debt.
“The path forward is uncertain. No matter what happens, thousands of bondholders, including Elliott, will continue to pursue our rights, attempting to generate a rational discussion with someone on the other side and trying to forge a solution.”
The Argentina mess has now become a huge international drama played out on the world stage. Given that, it might be hard to swallow Singer’s parting words: “Our strategy is to try to keep out of trouble.”