Fund Manager Goes Missing

It's never a good sign when your star fund manager quits suddenly. Especially when he's one of the rising stars of Wall Street -- and when he vanishes overnight, without a trace or an explanation.

Which makes the sudden departure of Charles De Vaulx from First Eagle funds this week as astonishing as it is mysterious.

A week ago, 45-year old De Vaulx was lead manager of First Eagle's (SGENX Quote - Cramer on SGENX - Stock Picks)Global (SGENX), (SGOVX Quote - Cramer on SGOVX - Stock Picks)Overseas (SGOVX), ( SGGDX Quote - Cramer on SGGDX - Stock Picks)Gold (SGGDX) and ( FEVAX Quote - Cramer on FEVAX - Stock Picks)U.S. Value (FEVAX) funds. He had only taken over full control from his predecessor, the legendary Jean-Marie Eveillard, two years ago.

Now he's gone -- so suddenly that his employers didn't even have a replacement lined up. New York investment partnership Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers, which runs the First Eagle funds, had to bring 67-year-old Eveillard out of retirement to take the helm again.

The whole deal was a weekend turnaround. "Charles tendered his resignation on Friday, and it was accepted," says CEO John Arnhold. "He was not pushed. He was not asked to resign." The news was announced on Monday. The company would say only that the reasons were "personal."

Speculation centered on the possibility that De Vaulx had walked to join a hedge fund. But Arnhold suggested his contract would pose a problem for any potential employer. De Vaulx was only two years into a five-year deal at Bleichroeder that will limit his ability to work for any competing firm until 2010. "As I understand the contract, that would be the case," Arnhold says.

Is De Vaulx, who is French, staying in the country? "I have no idea if he's staying here," Arnhold says.