Other People's Money is the premier podcast about the business side of the fund management industry. Every week Max Wiethe sits down to learn from some of the b...
The Investor Up 1000% With No Down Years | Chris Brown and Aristides Capital
Since Aristides Capital’s inception in August 2008, Chris Brown has returned over 1,000% for their investors with a stunning 16-year track record of no losing years. In this interview with Max Wiethe, Brown explains how they’ve been able to sustain these results and grow their business to over $300m in AUM all while operating far from the typical financial centers where hedge funds cluster. They discuss how accumulating a plethora of lower capacity strategies, hiring and working with “well intentioned nerds,” and maintaining rigorous processes for post-hoc analysis and feedback have been some of the keys to their investment success. They also touch on asset gathering from both HNW and institutional investors, attracting talent, and the reality that for small funds being in the top quartile or even decile of performance is a near necessity for reaching critical mass.
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1:03:59
The Easiest Way to Launch a Hedge Fund | Understanding Fund Spinouts with Farid Guindo
Ask anyone and they will tell you it has never been harder to start a hedge fund. That’s why so many of the most successful launches of late have been funds emerging from a prior firm with the backing of the big boss, otherwise known as spinouts. Julian Robertson’s Tiger Cubs are the perhaps most famous spinouts, but it is still an extremely popular trend today. Farid Guindo, CIO and founder of Drill Capital Management is taking advantage of these dynamics to launch his new fund with the backing of his mentor and former boss at Bornite Capital, Dan Dreyfus. In this interview with Max Wiethe, Guindo discusses the ins and outs of fund spinouts, the importance of transparency and relationship building with bosses and mentors, and how his experience working at Tiger Cubs and other spinouts solidified his belief that this was the right path for Drill Capital after deciding it was best to be a separate vehicle outside of the Bornite umbrella.
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53:38
How To Build A Billion Dollar Hedge Fund From Scratch | Dan Rasmussen
Dan Rasmussen has built his firm Verdad Capital into a billion-dollar asset manager on the back of one core activity, producing high quality research. Since Verdad’s inception in 2014, they have produced almost 500 pieces of research that they publish on their website weekly and distribute both on Twitter and to their large email list of readers. This research serves two functions. It’s both the backbone of the strategies employed at this highly quantitative firm, and a point of connection with existing and potential investors. In this interview with Max Wiethe, Rasmussen discusses how he’s used research to showcase his authentic self and build an audience that provides enumerable benefits. They also discuss the compliance process for publishing research, how he has built out his team and Verdad’s internship program, and why he takes a more SaaS approach to product market fit.
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Apple Podcast https://bit.ly/4e7QJ1M
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Follow Dan Rasmussen on Twitter: https://x.com/verdadcap
Follow Max Wiethe on Twitter: https://x.com/maxwiethe
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
03:43 The Value of Research and Verdad’s First Big Thesis
10:27 The SaaS Approach Product Market Fit
20:26 Investing in Human Capital
24:21 The Research and Publishing Process
28:41 Research as Brand Building
33:06 Compliance and Misconceptions About Public Statements
41:35 Authenticity and Investor Archetypes
46:07 Making Mistakes
49:45 Being Early on PE
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54:39
Thinking Outside the Style Box | The Hedge Fund Category Problem with Louis Camhi
Hedge fund strategies like distressed, long short equities, relative value, etc. are well defined and understood by allocators. As a result, funds that fit neatly into these style boxes can easily answer the question, “what type of fund are you?” But what if you don’t fit neatly into one of these boxes? Be too exact and no one will search for your niche strategy. Push the envelope to fit into one of these boxes and suddenly investors feel like they’ve been tricked into a meeting. This is a problem that Louis Camhi, founder and CIO of RLH Capital, has had to deal with since launching his SPAC focused strategy in 2021. In this interview with Max Wiethe, Camhi discusses why educating investors about SPACs and defining his fund for style box focused investors has been harder than finding interesting SPAC trades. They also touch on outsourcing back and middle office, the little things you don’t think about when you are working for a larger fund, and the tradeoffs between SMAs and pooled vehicles.
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Follow Louis Camhi on Twitter: https://x.com/valwithcatalyst
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Follow Jack Farley on Twitter https://x.com/JackFarley96
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55:42
Enter the Kuppyverse | Harris Kupperman on Brand Building by Blogging at Praetorian Capital
Harris Kupperman, CIO and Founder of Praetorian Capital joins Max Wiethe to share how he’s grown his firm to over $300 million in AUM, largely by breaking the institutional mold. They discuss Kupperman’s choice to build a strategy with UHNW investors and family offices in mind rather than traditional institutional investors and the benefits of a diversified base of LPs. They also discuss the firm’s blog Kuppy’s Korner, the importance of authenticity in brand building, and his choice to register the fund as a 506(c).
Clarification: At 50:48 Harris mentions that almost half the capital in the fund is from gains. As of September 30th, 2024 44% of the capital is from gains.
Sign up for Kuppy’s Korner at: https://pracap.com
Follow Other People’s Money on:
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Follow Jack Farley on Twitter https://x.com/JackFarley96
Other People's Money is the premier podcast about the business side of the fund management industry. Every week Max Wiethe sits down to learn from some of the best entrepreneurial fund managers about their experience launching and growing a fund management business. OPM is not a show about the next hot stock pick or big trade but an inside look at an opaque and misunderstood industry guided by real professional fund managers who've done it themselves.
Follow us on:
Max's Twitter: https://x.com/maxwiethe
OPM on Twitter: https://x.com/opmpod
Watch OPM and our Partner Show Monetary Matters on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyqw1Ns_cnhSJh5XvXPWgw
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