Most accountants who make it to the very top of their companies cling to a natural inclination to talk spread sheets and statistics.

Not Isaac Souede.

Ask the chairman and chief executive of Permal Asset Management about his favorite investments and he reels off a list of people — Louis Bacon, Bruce Kovner and Stephen Mandel Jr. — rather than the names of funds or sectors. Souede, whose New York–based 200-person firm manages nearly $40 billion in funds of hedge funds, is more psychologist and sociologist than number-cruncher. He makes no bones about the fact that he invests his time ...