Rainmaker for Jeb Bush suffers $6M hedge fund loss after Newtown

Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Scott County Republican Party's Ronald Reagan Dinner, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the Scott County Republican Party's Ronald Reagan Dinner, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Photo: Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press Photo: Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Rainmaker for Jeb Bush suffers $6M hedge fund loss after Newtown 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The manager of a New Canaan hedge fund that owned a $50 million stake in the gun industry before the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre — then hastily sold its stock shares for a $6 million loss — is hosting an upcoming fundraiser for GOP presidential contender Jeb Bush.

The former Florida governor, who is middling in the polls, will be the guest Thursday of Robert and Susan Bishop during the first of back-to-back fundraisers in New Canaan and Greenwich for Bush.

Robert Bishop is the founder of Impala Asset Management LLC, which internal audit documents show acquired 2,206,933 shares in two gun manufacturers on Nov. 8, 2012, a month before the attack. They were Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co., which is based in Southport.

Both stocks have rebounded dramatically in the nearly three years since the worst grade school shooting in U.S. history, in which 20 first graders and six educators were killed.

The present day value of the shares is about $18 million higher than their purchase price, but the hedge fund unwound its position in both companies in the weeks following the attack.

Bishop declined to comment Friday through a representative, who would not elaborate whether there was an ethical component behind the stock sale.

Bush was widely criticized by Democrats earlier this month when, commenting about government solutions to gun violence and other crises, he said “stuff happens” during a campaign stop in South Carolina.

“The gun issue is particularly salient now, probably more for all voters than specifically Republican voters,” said Ronald Schurin, an associate political science and government professor at the University of Connecticut.

Bush’s campaign has said his words, which followed the Oct. 1 mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, were twisted.

“It is sad and beyond craven that liberal Democrats, aided and abetted by some in the national media, would dishonestly take Governor Bush’s comments out of context in a cheap attempt to advance their political agenda in the wake of a tragedy,” said Allie Brandenburger, a Bush spokeswoman. “Taking shameless advantage of a horrific tragedy is wrong and only serves to prey on people's emotions.”

This will be Bush’s third visit this year to Connecticut, which is the boyhood home of his father, former President George H.W. Bush.

Bishop was previously chief operating officer of Soros Fund Management LLC, the former hedge fund of billionaire Democratic fundraiser George Soros.

The price of admission starts at $1,000 for the New Canaan reception and goes up to the maximum $2,700 for VIP access. The minimum for Greenwich, where Bush will visit the Belle Haven Club, is $1,500. There is a $750 contribution tier for young professionals 35 and under at the second event.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy