Brian Dowling
The Hartford Courant
8/15/2012
The world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates of Westport, announced an ambitious expansion plan Wednesday that includes building a new headquarters and nearly doubling its staff in the next decade, all with generous state help — up to $115 million of forgivable loans, grants and tax credits.
The company’s staff expansion and its plan to build a $750 million headquarters near the Stamford waterfront is the latest in the state’s large-scale economic development program, originally called the “First Five.” This is the largest financial incentive offered to a company by the state under the program.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he hoped Bridgewater’s choice of Stamford, instead of moving to New York or New Jersey, would influence other hedge funds, many of which have offices in Fairfield County or New York City.
“What I expect the industry to do is sit up and take note of what this outfit is doing,” Malloy said. Bridgewater’s decision “signals to the rest of the world that Connecticut is strengthening its leadership position in the very competitive financial services sector.”
Bridgewater manages about $130 billion in investments for pension funds, university endowments, charitable foundations, foreign governments and central banks. It presently employs about 1,225 employees in five buildings in and around Westport. Its plan is to expand to 2,000 employees over a decade and move to Stamford by 2016…
The article continues at The Hartford Courant.
H/T Yankee Institute for Public Policy
