New Canaan CT, USA.
FUM: USD 2.2 billion1
New York City NY, USA.
FUM: USD 3.3 billion2
Chicago IL, USA.
FUM: USD 97 billion3
New York City NY, USA.
FUM: USD 14.3 billion4
New York NY, USA.
FUM: USD 2.6 billion5
Miami FL, USA.
FUM: USD 1.9 billion6
London, United Kingdom.
FUM: USD 12.4 billion7
London, United Kingdom.
FUM: USD 2.5 billion8
Auckland, New Zealand.
FUM: NZD 1 billion9
Impala Asset management was established in 2003. Impala is a multi billion dollar investment management firm headed by industry veteran Bob Bishop. Bishop is a specialist manager focusing on cyclical sectors and companies. Prior to founding Impala, Bishop was the Chief Investment Officer at Soros Fund Management. Bishop is also a ‘Tiger Cub’ member, named after a group of individuals who came out of Julian Roberts’ famed Tiger Fund. Impala currently employs over 18 investment and advisory specialists with expertise in cyclical company investing.
Kynikos Associates was founded in 1985 by Jim Chanos. It is both the oldest and largest short-only equity manager in the world. Kynikos, which is Greek for cynic, invests in businesses which are mispriced by the share market. They profit from a decline in the value of businesses by selling the shares short at high prices and then buying them back at lower values. Jim Chanos is famous for having profited from the collapse of WorldCom and Enron, and more recently a number of Chinese companies.
LSV Asset Management (LSV) is a Chicago based global shares manager. LSV was founded in 1994 by three professors of finance: Josef Lakonishok; Andrei Shleifer and Robert Vishny. LSV uses a quantitative investment approach choosing undervalued shares with the potential for medium-term appreciation. While LSV’s investment approach has been refined over the years, it is still based on the original academic findings of Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishny. Today, Lakonishok continues to manage the company he founded two decades ago, and recently visited NZ Funds’ investment team in Auckland. LSV manages over US$97 billion3.
Paulson & Co is a global hedge fund founded by John Paulson in 1994. John founded Paulson & Co after an investment banking career with Bear Stearns. Early on Paulson focused on merger arbitrage and became one of the world’s foremost experts in corporate takeovers. Since founding Paulson & Co the company has grown clients’ capital by 1,316.4%. By visiting Paulson & Co regularly over the years we have secured a bespoke management arrangement with Paulson and his team. Today, Paulson & Co manages over US$14.3 billion in funds under management4.
Suvretta is a New York based hedge fund founded by Aaron Cowen in 2012. Aaron is the former Co-Portfolio Manager of SAC Capital, a hedge fund which compounded its clients’ wealth by approximately 25% p.a. for over 21 years, equivalent to turning $100,000 into $10.8 million. When Aaron left SAC Capital to start his own hedge fund, NZ Funds approached him to manage money on our clients’ behalf. Aaron focuses on large US companies and uses a long-short investment approach. Since NZ Funds invested he has returned 23% p.a. and grown Suvretta’s funds under management to US$2.6 billion5.
Universa is a specialist hedge fund founded by Mark Spitznagel in January 2007. Mark is the former head of Morgan Stanley’s secretive equity options proprietary trading division. On Wall Street, Mark is known for having made a hugely profitable billion dollar derivatives investment that profited from the 2008 share market crash. Universa is now closed to new clients but counts sovereign wealth funds, government pension and NZ Funds amongst its loyal clients.
H2O was established by Bruno Crastes and his team in 2010. Bruno is the former head of an investment team jointly owned by Societe Generale and Credit Agricole which oversaw US$100 billion in assets. H2O was established with the objective of using the same investment approach to manage a smaller amount of money and in so doing offer clients higher liquidity, hence the name. H2O invests in a wide range of global asset classes, switching its focus depending on valuation, economics and global trends. H2O’s team is now based in London and manages over US$12.4 billion of client funds7.
International Standard Asset Management (ISAM) was founded by Lord Stanley Fink and Larry Hite. Lord Fink is the former Chief Executive of Man Group, one of the largest listed hedge fund companies in the world. Larry Hite is one of the forefathers of systematic trading, an immensely successful trend-following approach to trading derivatives. Under the stewardship of their New Zealand born Chief Investment Officer, Darren Upton, ISAM is proving to be a top performer. In 2014 ISAM was reported by HSBC to be the world’s top performing hedge fund.
New Zealand Funds Management Limited (NZ Funds) is a privately owned wealth management firm founded in 1988 to manage Lion Nathan’s (then L.D. Nathan) superannuation fund. NZ Funds specialise in providing integrated advice and portfolio management services for New Zealanders. NZ Funds research and management team have managed a wide range of asset classes for over two decades and won a number of awards during that time. NZ Funds currently manages over NZ$1 billion on behalf of over 13,000 clients, individuals and trusts9.