Melody Bryant has joined the CL Kempner Asset Management as a principal to work alongside founder and managing partner Carl Kempner to ramp up the firm’s long/short equity hedge fund platform.
Together, Kempner and Bryant plan to expand the firm, which began as a family office and now has a 20+-year track record of aggressive capital preservation on behalf of high net worth individuals and institutions.
“Through the years, we have worked diligently to meet the investment requirements of many of our family members and friends," says Kempner. "Now, the time is right to capitalize on market inefficiencies to grow our firm’s investor base. Our long-term emphasis on capital preservation has served our investors well, particularly in periods of stock market turmoil."
Bryant has over 25 years of experience as a portfolio manager. She began her career as an analyst for Oppenheimer Capital Corp., worked as a portfolio manager for John M Blewer Inc and Levin & Co, and was portfolio manager, co-chairman and a member of the board of BKF Capital, a holding company for the asset management firm. She then became a senior portfolio manager and managing director for Neuberger Berman. Later, she also oversaw equities for a USD30 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Kempner has 30-plus years of experience as a portfolio manager, including 20 years as head of his current firm. Previously, he worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert and on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for Herzfeld & Stern prior to joining his father’s firm, Hamershlag Kempner & Co, one of Wall Street’s oldest partnerships. At Hamershlag Kempner, he co- managed the organization in conjunction with his father. He established a syndicate department which underwrote approximately 10 deals per year in conjunction with Merrill Lynch and he started a commodities group specialising in trading Treasury futures and gold, among other accomplishments.
