For snowed-under executive, there's no wasting time.

It isn't everyday that a near-death experience forces an executive to reassess his life.

But that's what happened to Jon Kutler, chairman and chief executive of Jefferies Quarterdeck, who resigned recently and announced plans to form his own investment firm, Admiralty Partners Inc., a reference to his 10 years in the Navy.

Kutler was skiing in Zurs, Austria, on a recent holiday when he Kutler got caught in an avalanche, passed out and thought he was dead.

Fortunately, he had a beeper on and after about 20 minutes, got dug out from under six feet of hard-packed snow. The rescuers had such a tough time reaching him that they' accidentally broke Kutler's nose mad a couple of teeth in the effort to dig him out. Not surprisingly, he immediately cancelled two other ski trips, and returned to the U.S. determined not to put off his latest venture.

Admiralty is not a fund, but rather a private investment firm that will be capitalized with $70 million of Kutler's own money. It will make investments in aerospace and defense, which has always been his expertise. He sold his former firm, Quarter-deck, to Jefferies in 2002.

Staff reporter Kate Berry, can be reached at [phone]. ext. 228, or at [e-mail].