Loading ...Three years ago, when money flowed easily, Ronald G. Insana left CNBC to hang his own shingle as a hedge fund manager. Now, as he returns to television, he has but one misgiving about his foray into moneymaking.
“The one regret I have is we ended up losing money,” Mr. Insana said in a recent interview.
Mr. Insana recently signed a deal with CNBC to return as a part-time analyst. He will make most of his appearances on “Closing Bell,” the daily end-of-trading show from 3 to 5 p.m., and also be available for spot duty on MSNBC and various NBC News shows.
Mr. Insana’s career trajectory was viewed by some as a cautionary tale for journalists with fanciful ideas that they can do the jobs of the people they cover. Mr. Insana’s departure in 2006 for a hedge fund also was wryly referred to as a sign the market had peaked — which it kind of had.
“I happened to catch a window that was historically difficult,” he said.
Last August, Mr. Insana sold his company, Insana Capital Partners, which was a so-called fund of funds. In September, he took a job with the prominent hedge fund SAC Capital, but the economy, and the stock market, went into free fall after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Mr. Insana said he and Steven A. Cohen, the head of SAC, had plans for new projects that were “eminently feasible” before the market downturn, but impossible afterward.
Of the inevitable sniping Mr. Insana has endured — his adventure has been compared with Lou Dobbs’s ill-fated stint at Space.com — he said he was not “some sort of sellout that wanted to cash in.”
“I actually enjoy understanding the financial markets,” he said. “I learned a great deal from the bottom up.”
It’s an experience he said he can share with viewers now that he’s back on TV.
“I got to see it first-hand,” he said. “In the media world, you rarely get the chance to go inside.” TIM ARANGO