NEW YORK - A CANADIAN wealth management firm has won last month's charity auction of a steak lunch with Mr Warren Buffett, in which it agreed to pay US$1,680,300 (S$2.5 million) to dine with the world's second-richest person.

The auction benefited the Glide Foundation, a nonprofit in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that offers housing, job training, health and child care, and meals for the poor.

Glide has raised more than US$5.92 million from such auctions in each of the last 10 years, including a record US$2,110,100 in 2008. The auction was conducted on eBay Inc's website. Salida had not bid for the lunch before this year.

"It is something we have been thinking about doing for a while," said Ms Courtenay Wolfe, Salida's chief executive, in an interview. "Warren's success has transcended decades and all types of market conditions, and his wisdom and experience is of great value to us, at such a sensitive time in history."

Mr Buffett, who runs the insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc, was out of the office and not immediately available for comment, spokeswoman Carrie Kizer said.

The winner and up to seven friends will dine with the world's second-richest person at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York.

At least three of the last six winners came from outside the United States, including Hong Kong investor Zhao Danyang, who submitted the record bid in 2008. The identity of the 2005 winner has not been publicly revealed.

Ms Wolfe said Salida began investing in 2000 and now oversees about US$256 million of assets, focusing on "alternative investments" and macroeconomic themes, and employing leverage and short-selling strategies.

According to its website, the Salida Multi Strategy Fund has returned an average 22.3 per cent since its 2004 inception. The fund is volatile: it fell 66.5 per cent last year, but returned 83.4 per cent from January to June, the website shows. -- REUTERS