Scott Bessent draws on hedge fund instincts to help rescue yen
Most recent Treasury Secretary predecessors came from what is known as the sell-side of finance, but Scott Bessent, with a decades-long hedge fund career, is different.
Scott Bessent, the current Treasury Secretary, has a background in hedge funds, which is unusual for his position. Most of his predecessors came from the sell-side of finance, but Bessent has spent decades working in hedge funds.
Bessent's experience in hedge funds has given him a unique understanding of the yen, according to Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. This understanding may have contributed to the swift and bold move by the US government to intervene in the currency market with Japan, helping the yen to rise.
Bessent's past experience includes working at Soros Fund Management during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, and earlier working under George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller when they shorted the British pound. Fortune reports that this background is why investors are willing to give Bessent some leeway when he takes risks that other Treasury Secretaries might not.
Brief written by urgent.news from Japan Times, Fortune — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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