FAQs around Public Equity Fund Primers

Last updated: 6/22/2025

Things to note about the primers

  • I try my best to only include independent U.S. institutional investment firms, which means excluding:

    • Bank-owned asset management firms, like GS Asset Management (GSAM)

    • Profiles of PMs working at a multi-manager platform (unless they have founded their own firm)

    • U.S. subsidiary of non-American firms (such as Vontebel)

    • Wealth managers, financial advisors, financial planners, etc.

  • All firms described are more than $100 million AUM.

  • AUM figures are regulatory figures as of 2/28/25 (unless specified otherwise), which include leverage if it’s a hedge fund

What info about the funds does your primer contain?

  • Investment style (value, growth, market-neutral, agnostic, event-driven, biotech, etc.)

  • Year founded

  • Founder name(s)

  • Founder / key person’s (CIO, director of research) education (undergraduate and graduate degrees)

  • Founder prior employers (so you understand their style lineage)

  • If available, investment process, portfolio turnover, position sizing, risk management discipline, etc.

What resources did you use to create these primers?

They are 100% based on public and factual information. Fund Form ADV part 1/2, mutual fund prospectus / annual report, 13-F, founder press articles / podcast / video interview / TV appearance, and other publicly available resources.

For legal reasons, I do not comment on firm culture, ongoing legal proceedings (unless they are facts publicized by major presses), founder personality, etc.

How often do you plan to update the primers?

For now, I plan to refresh once a year. So the next fresh will be March 2026. If there are material launches / closures, I will update the corresponding primer in a timely manner and update my paid clients.

Do you offer discounts for current students?

Because my website host does not natively support it, unfortunately I cannot offer discount to current students, for now.

I only need one/two primers, do you sell by pieces?

No, because of operational complexity:

  1. I can’t meet the infinite permutations of individual needs if it’s sold piece by piece. One person might want long-only funds in the Southeast and market-neutral funds in California, while another wants activist funds in California and energy funds in Texas.

  2. I’d have to maintain and remember to update multiple versions of the same content as I continue refining my findings.

Do you plan to produce a primer for Europe?

Yes, but not a top priority.

Do you cover credit funds?

No, I do not. I only cover equity-first value funds, some of who invest across the capital structure.