Expert Details
Hedge & Private Equity Fund Operational Infrastructure Across Multiple Asset Classes
ID: 736057
Texas, USA
▪ Operational Infrastructure
▪ Asset & Financial Management
▪ Fund Development
▪ Business Development
▪ Investor Relations
▪ Compliance & Risk
▪ Leadership & Development
▪ Revenue & Growth Planning
▪ Strategic Planning & Execution
Summary and bullet point answer to the question of where do I add the most value?
Analyzing all parts of different investment opportunities (not just the return potential), is:
1) what I enjoy most
2) where I absolute add the most value (now and in the long term because these skills are always needed and hard to find), and
3) where I can use my experience as well as my rare and special network of people to succeed (and succeed for everyone involved, which is why I enjoy it the most).
This is also what sets me apart from anyone else because it has also allowed me to see opportunities that others either can’t see or can’t build for. Opportunities that present huge barriers to entry, are highly inefficient, uncorrelated, and are considered “niche”. This includes building all of the operational infrastructure, performing due diligence on investment opportunities, and sourcing deal flow. I have actually been doing this for years, and not for pay, but as “favors”, but never expecting anything in return nor did I consider them favors. I was able to utilize this rare expertise I have to add value to some of the best people, and again I enjoy doing it! I believe this is a huge part of what has led to the amazing network I have been able to develop.
Bullet Points:
Overall Analysis
• Across all asset classes including but not limited to: real estate, investment funds, public and private companies, M&A, etc.
• Evaluation of ownership structures, investment philosophy, portfolio construction, performance, risk management and valuation procedures.
• Explore potential partnerships/JV’s, etc. on opportunities which includes performing the full due diligence, background checks, risk analysis, onsite visits, etc.
• Perform operational due diligence on existing infrastructure including internal team and external third-party service providers
• Return potential: review or develop performance expectations based on volatility, correlation to benchmarks, and diversification.
• Infrastructure: determining what/if any exists including the internal teams and third-party service providers
• Determine the potential inefficiencies, internal and/or within the market, that if solved for would deliver long-term consistent performance
• Leverage my extensive network for support, connections and introductions, deal flow, and potential involvement in opportunities
More Granular:
Building and Managing the Operational Investment Infrastructure
• Improving or implementing of processes and procedures across all aspects of any type of investment firm. Examples would include:
Deal sourcing: how deals and opportunities are identified
Key: utilize my network in every way for this part specifically as I consistently am doing due diligence for relationships across most asset classes and figuring out how those deals could benefit the company (putting together the puzzles) is something I love to do.
Deal analysis including evaluating a company’s existing portfolio which includes:
Understand performance objectives/short & long-term performance goals
Perform extensive analysis on historical performance of the portfolio and partners
Determine if any inefficiencies exist including risk factors due to market conditions, current partner relationships, etc.
Determine if new or additional opportunities exist that could be explored with current deals, projects, partners
Investment approval procedures
Cash flow and management operations
Investment portfolio ongoing analysis & oversight
Investment performance valuation and reporting including meeting with and/or reporting investment projections, performance, updates, and potential opportunities to the Board/Partners/Management, etc.
Research and identify testing methods to monitor any compliance requirements
Follow general and ongoing economic, regulatory and market conditions to determine if improvements/changes need to be made)
Develop due diligence reporting for all third-party service providers, including investment deal partners (contractors, property managers)
Building and Managing Internal and External Teams
• Determining the roles needed now and, in the future to achieve short and long-term goals
• Leverage my extensive network to find the right people that not only have the expertise to play their role, but also possess the values and buy in to the vision of the company, including third party partners that we contract with
• Evaluate all parts of the business to determine where we could leverage third party service providers
• Perform extensive due diligence and research on potential third party firms
• Perform consistent evaluations of all third-party partners, including onsite due diligence visits and reporting requirements (specifically changes or turnover within their companies and how it affects us)
Vision: Past/Present/Future: Prior to launching Magnify over 3 years ago, I had 17 years’ experience in the hedge fund space, including Tudor/Ospraie which spun out from Tudor. I was in the space (as an ops guy) when it was considered “the Wild West” and then having to build for all of the rules and regulation that came following 08, specifically Dodd Frank. In addition to running operations and being the treasurer for $11b AUM and 19 individual funds (all of which I had a part in building and managing), it then became my role to run investor relations, specifically investor due diligence which is the part I really love because it encompasses all parts of the business, regardless of asset class.
At the beginning of 2017 I was introduced to the single-family residential space and from an operational perspective I saw basically the exact same thing that existed when I started in the hedge fund space in 2000. Specifically, the huge lack of any operations/structure, which led to my vision of building a real private close-ended fund with the infrastructure required by institutions, to capture the huge opportunity I saw in the Single Family Residential space.
In addition to succeeding with the SFR fund, over the last 3 years there has been a huge shift across the whole investor universe in regard to mandates on investments. Right now, there is an enormous amount of capital searching for diversification, consistent performance, and not public market securities. Again, this is coming from every type of investor regardless of size. Alternatives, Real Assets, and Company Acquisitions are now what “everyone” is looking for, but what I quickly realized is most of the investment opportunities have nowhere near the infrastructure needed to check the box for institutional capital investments and more importantly for high net worth individuals and wealthy families, who need this oversight more than anyone.
The same vision and opportunity I saw with Single Family Residential, is even bigger across all of the asset classes mentioned above. To be clear, this opportunity exists on both sides of the "trade". Investors and Managers that possess this infrastructure are going to not only stand apart from the herd, but also give themselves a better chance to stay consistent and stable, which is exactly what people are searching for. As the world becomes more unstable and unknown, providing or holding a diversified portfolio that is managed correctly with strict oversight and efficient operational infrastructure is not only a necessity, but I believe will actually result in profit (deals perform better, access to better deals, etc.).
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2001 | Degree: BA | Subject: Business Management, Finance, Legal Studies | Institution: Manhattanville College |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2017 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Co-Founder / Chief Executive Officer | Department: |
Responsibilities:Built a private close-ended fund within the Single-Family Residential (SFR) Asset Class and developed an operational strategy that targets long-term consistent yield distributions while allowing for the flexibility to opportunistically sell assets to individuals and/or investors. Utilizing prior experience, built institutional infrastructure across all aspects of the firm and the fund to attract and raise investor capital. Hired and taught internal and external teams how to leverage their real estate industry experience within a structured investment fund. Review and approve all GP and SFR Fund I documentation including the LPA, PPM, and subscription documents for SFR Fund I. Develop idea and marketing materials for SFR Fund II / Income Fund I / and the Model Home Leaseback Strategy as well as began target reach-out to specific investors.▪ Raised $32M in equity from 79 investors within 11 months for the firm’s first closed-ended fund and continues to be in active discussions with investors of all sizes regarding their interest in SFR. ▪ Closed the first fund early (after 11 months) to new investments in order to stabilize the portfolio and develop the track record needed to prove out the vision. The fund continues to out-perform and has made 2 quarterly distributions to LP’s. ▪ Negotiated and closed the fund’s first floating rate leverage facility with Goldman Sachs/Genesis capital. After proving the vision and establishing a track record, was able to move forward with Global Atlantic, negotiating the fund’s long-term leverage facility, which is a 5-year, $50M fixed rate debt facility. Global also requested the right to lend on the firm’s next $250m raised. ▪ Built the operational infrastructure establishing processes and procedures that provided the edge needed to succeed in an asset class that is highly inefficient. ▪ Created a flow of funds process that details the execution of fund documents, LP capital calls, third-party controlled cash accounts, and the deployment of capital to acquire assets. ▪ Developed internal and external communication processes by preparing the fund’s operations and compliance manual, DDQ for current and prospective investors, and all initial marketing material. Executed all the investor quarterly letters and calls for the fund. ▪ Designed the investor relationship process to comply with the infrastructure that is needed to attract institutional investor relationships. ▪ Interviewed and negotiated all third-party relationships for the firm/fund, including the fund administrator, auditor, and legal counsel. ▪ Capitalize on new opportunities by connecting with personal network to explore potential ways to utilize the same operational infrastructure across other alternative asset classes, including Multi-Family, Built to Rent SFR, Land Acquisition, Hospice, Mixed Use Developments, and Student Housing. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2017 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Partner / Managing Director | Department: |
Responsibilities:Hired to direct the repositioning of 1,500 Single Family Assets from the Flagship Multi-Strategy Open-Ended Fund into a Separate Private Fund. Shortly after joining the firm an audit revealed the assets were not being valued on a quarterly basis, forcing the fund to liquidate the assets. New role required the quick establishment or relationships across the relatively new single-family residential asset class, specifically with potential institutional buyers. During this process, recognized the opportunity in SFR due to the lack of operational infrastructure, market inefficiency, and barrier to entry in a huge but still niche asset class. Leveraging prior experience and a large diverse network, including the relationships made in SFR, developed the vision and plan to launch Magnify.▪ Performed an extensive analysis on the current infrastructure and assets held by the fund which showed only 20% of the portfolio was occupied with many parts of the infrastructure being mismanaged or overlooked. ▪ Over the next 2-month period worked closely with the fund’s 3rd party acquisitions, renovation, and property management teams to improve the performance of the portfolio leading to an occupancy rate close to 90%. ▪ Following the hiring of a new Auditor for the fund (Deloitte) and subsequent Audit, it was realized the SFR assets were being held at cost rather than valued quarterly. ▪ This adjustment resulted in a substantial increase in unrealized gain which also increased the real estate allocation to 40% of the overall fund. Per the fund’s marketing materials, the allocation to real estate had a 5% target, which led to the decision to liquidate the portfolio. ▪ Over the subsequent 3 months was able to negotiate and contract the disposition of 80% of the portfolio prior to leaving and launching Magnify. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2014 to 2017 | Employer: E360 POWER, LLC | Title: Chief Operating Officer | Department: |
Responsibilities:Directed the operational strategy for a hedge fund that managed trading risk capital in the U.S. power and energy markets. Oversaw investor relations, marketing, fund and partnership accounting, information technology infrastructure and systems, trade operations, middle office, tax, compliance, treasury, and risk management. Managed trading and operational relationships including future commissions merchants, trading exchanges, fund administrators, on and offshore audit firms, legal firms, and technology relationships.▪ Diversified and grew the assets from $50M with 2 investors to $500M+ with 51 investors over a 2-year period. ▪ Raised $400M+ in diversified assets from 51 investors worldwide that included high net worth individuals, single and multi-family offices, foundations, pension funds, endowments, and fund of funds. ▪ Launched and marketed the offshore fund and a separately managed account that offered a levered product version of the main fund. ▪ Improved the risk policy and risk committee in collaboration with an outside risk consultant. ▪ Developed the operations manual that outlined risk, valuation, and disaster recovery policies. ▪ Streamlined end of day reporting by hiring an outsourced technology company to automate trade and position reconciliation, risk reports, exchange limit monitoring, and P&L. ▪ Integrated a disaster recovery and cyber-security solution by contracting an IT provider that provided a cloud-based product. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2012 to 2014 | Employer: STRATFOR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE | Title: Chief Operating Officer | Department: |
Responsibilities:Directed operations for over 130 employees in 80 countries; served as a member of the executive committee; created strategic capital raise plans with the CEO; and established financial management and forecasting strategies with the CFO. Led the business development team across multiple product lines and provided leadership for multiple departments that contributed to the execution of client projects. Marketed, sold, and managed contracts to hedge funds, asset managers, natural resources firms, private equity funds, and government agencies.▪ Expanded the client solutions business 40%+ over a 12-month period developing products tailored specifically for large institutions and building teams within the firm to execute the projects. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2010 to 2012 | Employer: OSPRAIE MANAGEMENT, LLC | Title: Treasurer | Department: |
Responsibilities:Promoted to take on additional financial responsibilities that included analyzing and providing daily cash exposure, liquidity, and margin reports for all funds; performed daily wire transfers for collateral, fund expenses, and investor services; and opened cash accounts for new and existing funds.▪ Improved the cash management process and streamlined the firm’s internal databases. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2004 to 2012 | Employer: OSPRAIE MANAGEMENT, LLC, | Title: Director of Global Operations | Department: |
Responsibilities:One of 15 employees to form Ospraie Management, which was spun out of Tudor Investment Corporation in 2004. Built, launched, and managed all aspects of the operational infrastructure for all of the funds over an 8-year period. Grew it from one fund to 16 individual funds, multiple separately managed accounts, and a private equity fund. Assets under management surpassed $10b. Products included long and short domestic and international equities, IPO’s, OTC products, commodity futures, precious metals, FX, and power. Oversaw all managed accounts, P&L processes for all funds, new trader funding, personal trading, and new trader funding policies. Managed cross-functional teams, attended investor due diligence reviews, produced NAV reports, and developed performance reports for investors.▪ Launched seven major funds including two index funds and one private equity fund in addition to the Wingspan platform, which is a multi-strategy trading vehicle with nine individual funds and managers. ▪ Contributed expertise for the selection and onboarding of new managers to the Wingspan platform. ▪ Established processes and procedures as a result of the changes presented by Dodd-Frank. ▪ Oversaw the due diligence process following the financial crisis. As a result, developed of key relationships by being transparent, open and honest and was able to raise capital from these relationships in subsequent positions. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2003 to 2003 | Employer: TUDOR INVESTMENT CORPORATION | Title: Operations Analyst | Department: |
Responsibilities:Promoted to manage communication with prime brokers dealing with exchange traded equities, futures, and options. Served as liaison with prime brokers, traders, and execution brokers to reconcile trades and positions; handled the confirmation, settlement, and reconciliation of OTC commodity swaps, commodity futures, equities, corporate actions, and metal trades; and monitored and executed FX transactions to settle FOREX trades.▪ Designed and executed programs used to monitor trades and positions with the Director of Global Operations ▪ Played a key role in the Ospraie spin-off from Tudor. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2002 to 2002 | Employer: TUDOR INVESTMENT CORPORATION | Title: Legal Assistant | Department: |
Responsibilities:Processed documentation related to contractual arrangements with trading counterparties; handled stock-certificate maintenance and transfers; prepared and submitted filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and completed reports related to corporate policy compliance. Additionally, assisted in general legal matters including immigration, corporate governance, and litigation. |
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Additional Experience
| Vendor Selection |
|---|
| Hedge Fund: *Interviewed, contracted, and managed multiple equity prime brokers, commodity FCM's, and fund administrators *Worked with multiple legal firms to draft fund documents and SMA/JV relationships Real Estate: *Interviewed, contracted, and managed multiple portfolio management firms and maintenance firms for the thousands of single family properties owned *Same as the above for Title Companies and Insurance providers |
| Marketing Experience |
|---|
| Money Raising: Hedge Fund: *Raised over $400m in equity for a Power and Natural Gas Hedge Fund. This included managed accounts and onshore/offshore funds. Private Real Estate Fund: *Raised over $32m in equity and secured a $50m credit facility for a private closed ended fund. |
| Other Relevant Experience |
|---|
| ACHIEVEMENTS & INTERESTS ▪ Played Division III college Ice Hockey at Manhattanville College, named team captain. ▪ Worked as a lighting technician on several major motion pictures and television shows as a college student. ▪ Participate in events for Children’s Charities including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital, Dell Children’s Research Hospital, Companions in Courage Foundation, and The Make a wish Foundation. ▪ Coaching youth ice and roller hockey and continue to play adult league ice hockey. |