Investcorp’s US-based hedge fund business and Kortright Capital Partners, a New York-based investment manager led by co-founders Matthew Taylor and Ty Popplewell, have formed a strategic partnership to provide Kortright stable growth capital while offering Investcorp and its investors access to a specialised event equity strategy.
Founded in 2010, Kortright is the newest asset manager to join Investcorp’s Single Manager Platform, which has a total of USD2bn in client and proprietary assets under management. Historically, Investcorp provides initial seed capital ranging from USD50m to USD100m.
Kortright focuses on the equities of small and mid-cap companies at complex points in their corporate lives. The Kortright team combines a deeply fundamental investment process and an event-driven framework to pursue opportunities arising from corporate change that is overlooked or misjudged by market participants.
“Through this partnership with Kortright, the Single Manager Platform can now provide investors with access to a hedge fund manager with expertise in monetizing opportunities stemming from corporate activity,” says Nick Vamvakas (pictured), managing director, head of development for Investcorp’s Single Manager Platform. “Current market conditions have fostered an attractive environment for event equity strategies, and Kortright is one of very few true specialist managers in this space.”
Taylor and Popplewell have a combined 25 years of investing experience, and they have been investing together for nearly a decade. Prior to forming Kortright, they worked together at Och-Ziff Capital Management Group where they held managing director and senior analyst positions, respectively. Over the course of their careers, they have managed over USD1bn in hedge fund assets.
“The familiarity and continuity between Matt and Ty, as well as their proven pedigree of managing large amounts of capital were critically important factors in our final decision,” Vamvakas says.
“Investcorp was one of the first proponents of emerging managers, and their support validates our differentiated approach to event equities,” says Taylor. “We have found a like-minded partner whose experience as an investor and seeder will prove instrumental in growing a platform that can deliver our specialised product to institutional investors.”