AlphaClone, a specialist in alpha-seeking investment strategies, has raised USD2.25 million in Series A financing, led by fintech-focused venture firm Operative Capital.
The financing builds on a remarkable period of growth for the firm that saw advised assets grow fourfold to over USD200 million in the past year. The company intends to use the financing to accelerate new product introductions and build out its marketing and sales operations.
Designed to adjust automatically based on pre-set rules, AlphaClone's investment strategies seek to give investors the potential to outperform the broader market by accessing the investment ideas of the world’s most established hedge funds, while simultaneously hedging against protracted market downturns. AlphaClone's flag ship index strategy, the AlphaClone Hedge Fund Long/Short Index, has returned an average of 18.36 per cent per year vs 14.31 per cent for the S&P 500 Total Return Index over the 3 year period ended 8/31/2015.
“ETFs will play a key role in market growth as asset managers move away from costly, traditional investment vehicles like hedge funds and mutual funds. AlphaClone is well positioned to capitalise on this growth as investors seek more innovative, cost-effective products,” says Drew Sievers, Operative Capital Managing Partner. “We see tremendous opportunity in the existing and future suite of products the firm plans to offer and look forward to helping AlphaClone bring best-of-breed, alpha-seeking products to the marketplace via the ETF wrapper.”
“Operative Capital is an ideal financial partner for us given its tremendous company-building background,” says Maz Jadallah (pictured), President and CEO of AlphaClone. “This partnership will allow us to further our mandate of offering low-cost investment strategies to help investors navigate the selection dilemma that often comes with active investing. Operative Capital’s investment is a sign of confidence in our investment process, which combines the best of man and machine.”
The impact of Operative Capital’s partnership has been immediately demonstrated in the expansion of the leadership team at AlphaClone, where two seasoned financial industry executives are now playing key roles.
Joining the firm is Michael Carrier, a seasoned entrepreneur with a background in both capital markets and technology, who takes on the position of Chief Operating Officer. Having built and sold several companies in the Bay Area, his blend of experience and expertise will be applied toward developing AlphaClone’s family of innovative funds.
Alongside Carrier, Brad Bredemann has been named Head of Sales and Distribution, bringing more than 20 years of asset management experience to the firm. Previously, Bredemann was with Cohen & Steers and BlackRock, where he focused on alternative investment products and was responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with registered investment advisors, family offices and endowments in the western region.
“As we continue to highlight the differences between our approach and others, Michael and Brad’s exceptional talent will fuel our expansion efforts and continue the momentum from the past five years,” says Jadallah. “With their combined technology prowess, capital markets expertise and significant experience growing venture-backed firms, they are the ideal addition to our team at this stage in our growth.”
