* "It's certainly the 'in' thing to do."--Thomas Donnelly, senior v.p. at GE Capital, on having an active loan sale program.
* While the distressed funds have very qualified teams, George Siguler, managing director at Siguler, Guff & Company, said he has yet to see anyone with any operating experience. "They are very, very bright," he said of these teams. "I mean, the hubrises are unbelievable."
* With all the accounting scandals in recent months, it is possible that accountants all around the world are having nightmares that their company will be the next to come under fire. Perhaps Leon LaRosa, director of reorganization and forensic services at Deloitte & Touche, was simply sharing a glimpse into his tortured psyche when he slipped up. "What we do with default...I mean at Deloitte."
* As conference attendees buzzed about the WorldCom scandal on Wednesday morning, Wilbur Ross of W.L. Ross and Co., opened up the morning session by saying, "We arranged for WorldCom to blow up to increase your interest in distressed investing."
