Wall Street Titans Celebrate UJA-Federation

When the hedge fund manager Daniel S. Och called Bruce J. Richards, chief executive of Marathon Asset Management, it was not to discuss the latest gossip around their building, 15 Central Park West, which is home to several Wall Street heavyweights.

Rather, it was to invite Mr. Richards to another association of financial titans: those honored by the UJA-Federation of New York, a charitable organization focused on Jewish philanthropy.

“Bruce has felt left out of the tribe,” joked Andrew Rabinowitz, the chief operating officer of Marathon, as he introduced Mr. Richards at an event Tuesday evening. “This is UJA’s way of saying, ‘Welcome back, Bruce.’”

Jewish humor filled the air at the the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan at the event, which honored Mr. Richards and John M. Shapiro, the co-founder of Chieftain Capital Management, who received a lifetime achievement award. The gala, the more intimate of two Wall Street events the UJA-Federation hosts annually, raised more than $2 million.

Hedge fund bosses like Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital Management and Michael Karsch of Karsch Capital Management worked the room, while junior finance workers sampled platters of sushi and steak. (Mr. Och, who serves as senior chairman of the charitable organization’s investment management division, had hurt his back and couldn’t make it on Tuesday.) This being a Wall Street affair, there was plenty of opportunity for networking.

“Rob, we have all these hedge fund managers out there,” Mr. Richards said, addressing Robert S. Kapito, president of BlackRock, and making reference to the asset manager’s nearly $4 trillion under management.

“We just want a little piece. Just a little bit,” Mr. Richards said.

Mr. Kapito had just finished telling a joke about golf, featuring Mr. Richards. “It seems the pope has met with his cardinals to discuss a proposal from Bruce Richards,” Mr. Kapito said. Mr. Richards had challenged the pope to a game of golf to show the friendship between the Catholic and Jewish religions, the joke went. The Catholic church chose the golfer Jack Nicklaus to be its proxy, promising to make him a cardinal. While Mr. Nicklaus played well, he ended up losing â€" to “rabbi Tiger Woods.”

Mr. Richards joined a list of prominent honorees, including Boaz Weinstein, the founder of Saba Capital, who was honored at a UJA-Federation dinner last year.

In December, Lloyd C. Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs â€" and a resident of 15 Central Park West â€" will be honored by the organization along with David K. Wassong, managing director at Soros Fund Management.

But as strong as the UJA-Federation’s ties to Wall Street are, there is one company it has yet to attract as a sponsor.

“Bruce many, many years ago used to work for Jamie Dimon, and they’re still good friends,” Mr. Rabinowitz said, referring to the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase. “The UJA has been trying to get JPMorgan to be a sponsor for many years. So they figured they’d use Bruce’s connections on Wall Street to help make that difference.”

A spokeswoman for JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Though JPMorgan was not a sponsor of the event, it does support the organization, Shari Harel, a spokeswoman for the UJA-Federation, said.