Who said Wall Street can't be cool?
Hedge fund investors and others in the financial industry traded their market terminals and BlackBerrys for guitars and sunglasses Wednesday night in New York to rock out for a good cause.
Dubbed "Hedge Fund Rocktoberfest," the 11th annual version of the charity event raised about $400,000 for A Leg To Stand On, which provides prosthetic limbs and related mobility aid to children in developing countries.
Proudly amateur bands to play included "The Warriors from Mars" (Justin Lepone of Greenlight Capital and John Ivanac of BlackRock) and "JAM Partners" (CNBC contributor Tim Seymour of Triogem Asset Management, Mark Greenberg of Tigress Financial Partners, Michael Corasaniti of Tourmalet Advisors, Renzo Anfossi of Citi and Sy Jacobs of Jacobs Asset Management).
"This is a charity that is truly making a difference with children whose lives we can affect and change now," said Seymour, a nightly presence on CNBC's "Fast Money." "How else do I get a chance to play covers of Wilco, Kings of Leon and the Who in front of 1,200 people?"
"There is no other event I know of," added CNBC senior economics reporter and fellow performer Steve Liesman, "where you can play rock 'n' roll, benefit a very worthy cause and have a long discussion about the effects of new Dodd-Frank banking legislation on fixed-income derivatives trade while holding a vodka in one hand and a truffle grilled cheese in the other."
The charity, co-founded in 2003 by Mead Welles of Octagon Asset Management, has provided free orthopedic care to more than 12,000 children through local treatment providers in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
