Hedge funders were in Miami, but they're not 'all in' on Miami yet

• Hedge funds, institutional investors, and more were in Miami for the annual iConnections conference.
• The city has become a larger player in financial services thanks to firms like Citadel, but it still lags New York and others.
• This week, Miami played the perfect host for snow-weary Northeasterners — but the average person wasn't clamoring to move.

It's always telling what the social currency of any large industry gathering is.

This week's hedge fund confab in Miami's posh South Beach stretch drew thousands of fund founders, institutional investors, lawyers, marketers, data providers, and more.

In recent years, as Miami, Palm Beach, and other South Florida hot spots have gained traction among the wealthiest New Yorkers and Californians, attendees might boast about looking at properties while in town as they weighed moving. This year, conference-goers traded pictures and videos of the US men's hockey party at the local club E11even on Monday night.

The team flew in from the host country of the Winter Olympics, Italy, and left the next morning, providing a clean metaphor for the entire week: Miami is a getaway, not a home. The annual iConnections conference brings thousands of finance pros to the city, and while Miami is still growing steadily, thanks in part to Ken Griffin's Citadel and companies like Palantir, the investing industry has yet to move en masse to the region.

Many of the attendees battled the record-setting blizzard that hit New York and New England on Sunday and Monday to reach the Magic City. A person close to the conference said iConnections chartered several planes for attendees that left from New Jersey's Teterboro airport on Saturday as airlines began canceling flights in anticipation of the storm (attendees still had to pay for a seat on these flights).

Without people from out of town, the week wouldn't have nearly enough buzz. One founder of a small fund said he originally started his firm in Florida during pandemic times, but relocated to New York when things opened up.

"There wasn't enough flow, there isn't enough people yet," this person said.

Like Dubai, the region has attracted wealthy founders and near-retirement partners seeking warm weather and low taxes. Unlike Dubai, many funds have not set up a significant presence in Miami yet, as young talent is still drawn to long-standing centers of gravity like New York and San Francisco.

"There's not trillions in sovereign wealth sloshing around Florida," said one fund founder in town from London who is considering a move to Dubai.

This isn't to say that Miami is shrinking — far from it. High rises are going near the waterfront, posh private schools are filled to the brim, and traffic can be a nightmare. Walking around South Beach, rows of palm trees are interrupted by construction cranes. Cutting-edge consumer tech is ever-present, as self-driving Waymos and cooler-looking delivery robots are a constant sight.

But it's still Florida, for better or worse. A billboard off of Miami's main highway, before entering the Brickell neighborhood that's home to financial services companies, features a law firm focused on DUIs committed on boats. Conference-goers trudged to a marathon day of meetings indoors while vacationers in swimsuits and perma-tan retirees passed them on their way to the beach.

It makes for a perfect conference environment, and hedge funds are as hot as they've ever been. Institutions such as pensions and sovereign wealth funds want to up their allocations, while private wealth channels are trying to get more capacity in the biggest brands in the industry. Fundraisers and backers were in back-to-back, speed-dating-like meetings in the heavily air-conditioned convention center — one fund executive said they had 35 different meetings over Tuesday and Wednesday.

The speaking lineup wasn't as celebrity-and-billionaire-filled as years past, when Point72 founder Steve Cohen, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, venture investor Peter Thiel, and reality TV star Kim Kardashian have all spoken, but there were still heavy hitters in town. Jefferies CEO Rich Handler was at the firm's Tuesday night event at the Kimpton Surfcomber hotel, attendees said. Billionaire Third Point founder Dan Loeb spoke about the return of short selling during a panel.

In these talks and in conversations all week, Miami was the setting, not the main subject. New York and Silicon Valley, for all the handwringing about the high-tax areas, are still the main characters.

Everyone had a blizzard photo to share from their homes in New York or Connecticut. At a yacht party in Miami Beach harbor Tuesday night, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were discussed more than President Donald Trump, despite it being the night of the State of the Union. Florida and Miami politicians and policies didn't come up — including Eileen Higgins, the city's first female mayor, elected late last year — beyond the costs of insuring a home near the beach.

In the lobbies and bars of nearby luxury hotels and resorts like the Ritz-Carlton, The Setai, Soho Beach House, and more, out-of-towners bemoaned the rough weather of the Northeast and high taxes of California and London while checking into their flights home.

"This place still doesn't feel real," one family-office head based in the Northeast said over drinks at a beachside hotel.

"And that's a good thing."