Advertisement

Ben Bernanke to advise hedge fund Citadel

By Danielle Haynes
Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke joined hedge fund Citadel as an adviser. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke joined hedge fund Citadel as an adviser. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

NEW YORK, April 16 (UPI) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday signed on with hedge fund Citadel as an adviser, joining a number of other former Fed officials who have moved to Wall Street.

Bernanke told The New York Times he joined the $25 billion hedge fund founded by Kenneth Griffin to offer analysis of global economics to the group's investment committees and investors worldwide.

Advertisement

He stepped down from his position at the Fed at the end of 2013, and like others in Washington, is heading to Wall Street. Former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, for instance, worked as consultant for a number of banks and investment firms, and former Fed Governor Jeremy Stein, advised BlueMountain Capital Management.

Bernanke said he was aware there may be some concern about the "revolving door" between Washington and Wall Street. He chose Citadel because it "is not regulated by the Federal Reserve and I won't be doing lobbying of any sort."

"I wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest," he said.

Advertisement

Griffin released a statement welcoming Bernanke to Citadel.

"He has extraordinary knowledge of the global economy and his insights on monetary policy and the capital markets will be extremely valuable to our team and to our investors," he said.

Griffin hasn't always been so welcoming of Bernanke's ideas, though. He was particularly critical of the Federal Reserve under Bernanke's leadership, Forbes reported.

He called QE3, the Fed's bond buying program founded during Bernanke's tenure, "a terrible idea."

"If you're 68 years old and you've saved your whole life for retirement, the Federal Reserve's policies are punishing you,' Griffin told the Chicago Tribune in 2012.

Latest Headlines

Advertisement

Trending Stories

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement