White Plains, New York, United States
I am a hedge fund manager investing primarily in small capitalization stocks worldwide with a particular focus on the interactive entertainment industry. I am a longtime gamer since childhood and have been following and investing in the gaming industry for over 30 years. I am, however, a generalist who will invest in any company in which the investment risk/return is judged to be exceptionally favorable. The strategy of my fund is, via deep bottom up fundamental research, to find a small number of extremely compelling investment ideas in a given year and to take relatively large positions in them. I do not believe that diversification is the path to the best risk-adjusted returns; rather, I believe in having a small number of eggs in the basket and watching those eggs very carefully. I seek situations in which my assessment of a company's prospects is meaningfully different from that of the consensus, and seek to exploit the market's temporary misconception; I do so in the expectation of a meaningful price change in the expected direction as the market's perception hopefully aligns with my own over time. I also seek to remain ever humble and flexible, as it is often the case that when my view of a company's prospects differ from the market that it is I who am mistaken. I invest on both the long and short side of the market. Although the fund seeks to generate superior absolute returns on an annual basis, my primary objective is to avoid significant permanent losses of capital. As such, if the opportunity set is found to be lacking, even for an extended period of time, the fund may be lightly invested for stretches and carry a large cash balance. Periods such as this are not considered failures but are part of a process that requires time to unfold. The performance of the fund since inception has meaningfully surpassed any relevant benchmark.
I manage Climbing Rose Capital, a hedge fund that invests long and short primarily in small capitalization stocks, mostly of US-based companies. I have a particular focus on the interactive entertainment industry, but will invest in any type of company that I feel I understand and that I believe offers exceptional risk/reward characteristics. The fund seeks to hold a small number of large positions at any one time in companies in which I have personally done deep bottom up research and believe that the risk/reward is powerfully in my favor. Though the fund seeks to generate superior returns annually, my primary concern is to avoid significant permanent losses of capital. As such, if the opportunity set appears unattractive, the fund may hold large cash balances for significant periods of time. These times are not considered failures, but a necessary component of a process that requires time to unfold. The fund's performance has meaningfully exceeded any relevant benchmarks since its inception, and has done so without leverage and generally hedged.
During my tenure for this boutique primary research firm/broker-dealer serving the hedge fund community, I spearheaded a team of 10 senior/junior research analysts, and successfully conceptualized and implemented multi-year restructuring and re-invention of firm’s research offering to reduce its dependence on Expert Networks.
In this role for two years, I advised Mr. Gilder, the founder and head of this company that specializes in short-selling and growth stock investing, on identified investment opportunities for inclusion in portfolios ($4 billion AUM) to generate a positive net performance.
While progressing from Analyst to equal financial partner within four years, my role consisted of sourcing,analyzing,advocating, and implementing long/short equity positions at this New York-based hedge fund. Quantitative individual metrics of success over the period include having: Produced an annual return on capital that surpassed 30%, every year of tenure. Delivered in excess of 50% of fund’s total performance 75% of the time (6 of 8 years). Formulated and implemented investment ideas which accounted for ~40+% of all capital committed.