Len Berman

FMC seeks to deliver long-term value through an investment approach aligned with clients' goals and driven by in-house, proprietary research.

For active fixed-income, LBAM's decision-making process incorporates controlled duration decisions, sector decisions, and individual issue valuation decisions. They base interest rate and sector-related investment decisions on our economic growth forecast. The firm uses risk exposure analysis and risk budgeting models to quantify and manage risks associated with strategies that they design to add value relative to the benchmark index. Individual issue selections result from internal research generated by research specialists. They diversify holdings to reduce credit exposure to individual issuers. Eligible investments for core strategies include US dollar denominated investment-grade securities; for core plus strategies the universe of securities expands to include high yield. For passive bond indexing, LBAM seeks to take advantage of risk premiums as they are reflected in individual security prices. These premiums offer compensation for accepting credit and structure risks associated with individual issues. Explicit quantification and control of risks are at the heart of this investment process. The firm uses proprietary risk exposure analysis to analyze yield curve factors and spread-related factors. For each yield curve and spread factor, the portfolio is very closely matched to the index to ensure that the portfolio earns the same return as the index for any change in interest rates or change in sector spreads. Based on internally generated research, they integrate individual issue selections into the portfolio without disrupting the integrity of the portfolio structure. Holdings are diversified to reduce credit exposure to individual issuers. Eligible investments include securities included in the index, plus those that are their equivalents in terms of credit and structure risks. LBAM's high yield bond management decision-making process begins with a macro-economic framework for determining the appropriate portfolio structure according to defensive versus cyclical industries and appropriate quality orientation (between high BB to low B). Once they have established the overall structure, the firm determines specific industry weights and individual issuer selections. Their research analysts focus on identifying securities that exhibit improving credit fundamentals while avoiding those that experience deterioration in their credit quality. LBAM diversifies holdings to reduce credit exposure to individual issuers. Eligible investments include dollar denominated bonds rated below investment-grade including Rule 144A securities and the full range of structures such as pay-in-kind bonds, interest reset bonds and other instruments that are consistent with high yield investing.

Eton Park Capital Management employs a wide range of investment strategies in managing fund assets, which may include, but are not limited to: Fundamental Long/Short; Event-Oriented; Credit and Distressed Debt; Asset-Backed and Structures Credit; and Derivatives. Eton Park's Fundamental Long/Short strategies purchase securities they believe are undervalued or selling short securities that they believe are overpriced. The firm's Event-Oriented strategies seek to exploit situations in which an announced or anticipated event creates pricing inefficiencies. Their Credit and Distressed Debt strategies seek to generate capital appreciation or otherwise generate income mainly by investing in credit and credit-related instruments or obligations, both long and short, across a company's capital structure. Eton Park's Asset-Backed and Structured Credit strategies invest in instruments that are generally securitized, such as RMBS, CMBS and other ABS and CDOs that may have underlying assets, such as trust preferred securities (TruPS), aircraft leases, mutual fund fees, and other assets. The firm's Derivative strategies are used to express fundamental investment views; to hedge positions or hedge or adjust market exposure; or to profit from derivatives transactions generally. Eton Park's open-ended Global Funds' strategies include: fundamental long/short; event-oriented; credit, distressed credit, structured credit and asset-backed financing instruments and arbitrage; capital structure arbitrage; volatility trading/arbitrage; derivatives trading/arbitrage; investments in commodities and other physical assets; private investments; convertible instruments and arbitrage; statistical arbitrage; currency trading and arbitrage; interest rate investing and arbitrage; investments in real estate and real estate-related assets; investments in or related to intellectual property; and the assumption or transfer of risks relating to various catastrophic events. The funds are not limited by geography or instrument. Eton Park's Emerging Markets Funds and Credit funds are no longer making new investments. The Credit Funds made investments primarily in TruPS, CDOs (including, but not limited to, insurance TruPS, REIT TruPS and bank TruPS), and related instruments (including, but not limited to, the underlying assets of such TruPS CDOs). The Emerging Markets Funds made investments in private and illiquid investments in emerging markets using a variety of instruments.

Functions as a College/University

Functions as a College/University

Provides investment advice