Chicago-based alternative investment manager Aurora Investment Management has provided early stage capital to investment funds managed by healthcare-focused long/short equity fund manager Copernicus Capital Management.
Copernicus Capital Management was founded by John Rende (pictured) in early 2013. Prior to Copernicus, he was the Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for the long/short healthcare portfolio at Weintraub Capital Management, LLC, a multi-strategy hedge fund based in San Francisco. Previous to Weintraub, Rende worked for Wells Fargo as a credit and fixed income analyst and as a Portfolio Manager in its Asset Management Group. Rende began his career in healthcare at American Bionetics, a biotechnology firm specialising in the research and design of HIV confirmatory tests. Rende received an MBA from the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, and has a joint degree, magna cum laude, in Biology and Economics from Claremont McKenna College.
“We are very excited to enter into a strategic relationship with one of the preeminent investors in the alternative management space,” says Rende. “Aurora Investment Management is known for their long term support and commitment to managers like us, and we are pleased that our patience in building a strong track record has led to such a partnership.”
Copernicus employs a disciplined and objective research process to generate a concentrated portfolio of stocks across the spectrum of life science and healthcare service companies. Through a process-driven methodology, Rende and his team seek to utilise their domain expertise, which spans over 25 years in the healthcare sector, to generate superior risk-adjusted returns while minimising drawdowns to achieve both growth and preservation of capital.
“The combination of a much-improved FDA review process for new drug applications, along with the 2010 passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, will provide a strong backdrop for healthcare investors over the coming decade,” says Rende. “Given the sector’s inherent diversity and underlying volatility, we believe our strategy of risk management and our historical ability to generate alpha is attractive for long-term investors.”
Rende is joined by an experienced director of research, Dean Dillard (previously a Senior Research Analyst at Invesco Capital Management), as well as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Craig Skaling, who recently joined Copernicus after two years as the Chief Financial Officer at Two Ocean Capital.
In its more than 27 years of identifying investment talent, Aurora has consistently sought to identify skilled alternative investment managers early in their business cycle, and has been an early stage investor with many successful hedge fund managers.
Aurora Portfolio Manager Patrick Sheedy, says: “John’s vast experience and proven approach to long and short stock selection in the healthcare sector present a compelling investment opportunity for our clients. Copernicus is well-positioned for success as the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, and our strategic partnership strengthens the firm’s position going forward.”
