NYSSA Delivers Emerging Managers Forum in Style

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2016 -- NYSSA hosted the Emerging Managers Forum, where members and attendees learned from industry experts on all facets of emerging manager seeding and hedge fund startup.

“I think this event represents the best of what NYSSA is about,” Patrick Holert, CFA, CAIA, began.

In all, over 150 men and women gathered in the NYSSA Conference Center, engaging amongst peers—all interested in playing the hedge fund game in some form—and participating in a wonderfully, fully-catered event.

The 79-year-old member society has seen a 74% year-on-year increase in program attendance, and currently boasts a 22% spike in year-on-year membership.

Delivering opening remarks, Holert, a NYSSA board member as well as Vice president and Research Principal for BBVA Securities, continued.

“NYSSA is about bringing people together to provide educational programs and networking opportunities throughout our members’ various stages of their respective careers,” Holert said. “This here is a very good effort in that direction.”

Keynote speaker Andrew D. Beer, Founder and Managing Partner of Beachhead Capital Management, LLC, took to the podium next. He emphasized how much the world changed following the financial crisis in 2006 and—in the wake of Bernie Madoff’s fraud—even more so since December 2008.

“The way people think about small funds versus large funds has changed,” said Beer, who has been in the business since 1994 and now presides over his fourth emerging hedge fund. “All capital, post-crisis, has gone to larger managers."

There are still pockets of opportunity, however, Beer offered, before introducing the first panel.

The panel, moderated by Robert Akeson (COO, Daewoo Securities - America) included Vincent Sarullo, Mohsen Moayer (Head of Business Development, Nirvana), Michael Tannenbaum (Partner, Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP), Frank Magnani (Managing Director, Interactive Brokers), and Tania Lynn Taylor, CFA, CPA (Audit Partner, Deloitte), and explored how to successfully launch a hedge fund.

The most common mistake managers make, says Sarullo, CEO of Tower Fund Services, is the “build it and they will come” mentality.

“They just fall back on their comfort zone and think there their results in trading is going to have the money rolling in. It comes down to the business plan. How are you getting the word out? How are you interacting with your investors?”

A brief break and another round of fresh food and beverages served as an opportunity for attendees to discuss insights gleaned. That paved the way for a second panel—a group of graduated emerging managers—comprised by Daniel B Sheridan, CFA (Managing Principal, Portfolio Manager, Hinoki Capital Management), Nicolas Martin, CFA (founding partner of Baylis), Anna Nikolayevsky (Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Axel Capital Management),  and Svetlana Lee, Franklin Olakunle Amoo, CAIA (Partner, Baylis Emerging Market), and moderated by Sidney Hardee, CFA (Managing Partner of Hardee Brothers, LLC).

During the post-panel Q&A with the audience, Svetlana Lee—Founder, Portfolio Manager and CIO of Varna Capital—urged how crucial personality is to her throughout the hiring process.

“You have to recognize that there are different personality types and whether each is suited for what your function will be on this small team,” Lee said. “And you’d be amazed at how many people with a great rolodex aren’t someone you’d want to have a beer with, and that can really matter.” 

The final panel was moderated by Brian M. Gillot (Managing Director and Opportunistic Equity Portfolio Manager at Jennison Associates) and included investment managers and asset allocators Michael Weinberg, CFA (Chief Investment Strategist at Protégé Partners), Jeffrey Spotts, CMT (Principal for Prophecy Capital Management International), Eric J. Hoerdemann, CFA, and Ari Glass (founding partner and managing member of Boothbay).

Said Hoerdemann, Partner and Chief of Research and Risk at Stride Capital: “It’s easy to find players; it’s very, very difficult to find differentiated strategies.”

NYSSA would like to thank the following sponsors for making this event possible: Deloitte (Gold Sponsors), Interactive Brokers (Booth Sponsors), B(W) Cyber Services (Speaker Sponsors), Tower Fund Services (Speaker Sponsors), and Mirae Asset Financial Group (Speaker Sponsors).

Please contact

Harumi Urata-Thompson

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1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036