Jean-Marie Eveillard was in Paris this spring, two years into his retirement from the money management business, when he got a call asking him to return to New York–based First Eagle Funds and take over portfolio management after the sudden departure of Charles de Vaulx, Eveillard’s handpicked successor. The call came from the fund’s investment adviser, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers; they wanted to know if Eveillard could start, er, the following Monday. The 67-year-old Frenchman stresses that he had been enjoying retirement. “Americans tend to believe that God didn’t place them on this earth to do nothing. They feel guilty. But I’m not trying to do a comeback,” he says. He did agree to remain on board for one year and to work part-time for a second, as Bleichroeder searches for the next manager.
