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[Insider]

http://www.bloomberg...id=ahnaLU_Hkl1o

Hedge Fund Manager, Intent on Market, Misses Maserati (Update1)

By David Clarke and Brian Lysaght

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Bertrand Des Pallieres, founder of the SPQR Capital LLP hedge fund, said he was so focused on the swings in financial markets that he didn't notice his 80,000- pound ($160,000) sports car had been impounded by London authorities.

The 39-year-old, who quit Deutsche Bank AG in April to set up the fund, said in a telephone interview he amassed ``thousands of pounds'' in fines from unpaid congestion-charge fees and taxes. Authorities seized the blue Maserati Cambiocorsa in late May. Des Pallieres didn't realize it had been taken until this month.

``I was distracted by the market turmoil,'' said Des Pallieres, who doesn't use the car during the week because he can walk to his office in the St. James's district of London in 15 minutes. ``My assistant at Deutsche Bank used to take care of the road tax.''

The car was seized because the owner hadn't paid U.K. annual vehicle tax, said a spokeswoman for Transport for London. Des Pallieres had a total of 65 congestion-charge fines and ``lots'' of parking tickets in addition to the unpaid tax, the Evening Standard reported earlier today.

The Maserati has been held in a lot with space for 400 cars in White City, west London, operated by NCP Services, which manages impound lots for the government.

`Among the Wrecks'

``It's very unusual we have a car of this kind of value,'' said Tim Cowen, a spokesman for NCP Services. ``It's out there in the open among the wrecks. They're death traps basically that we want to get off the road.''

Typically, owners have up to two weeks to claim their car after it has been towed, said Cowen. Unclaimed cars are scrapped or sold at auction. Because this car was so valuable, the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency had trouble finding dealers who could handle the sale, Cowen said.

The Cambiocorsa's 4.2-liter engine gives it a top speed of 177 miles an hour (285 kilometers an hour) and power to move from zero to 62 miles an hour in 4.9 seconds, according to the carmaker's Web site.

[Jnavin]

I'm sure he can buy a new one.
This GS hedge fund manager drives a Honda.

[esther231]

lol There's a moral there somewhere I think.