Mary E. Bynum

Drake specializes in active global fixed-income strategies. They manage both benchmarked and absolute return oriented portfolios. Absolute return offerings include a multi-sector, primarily fixed-income oriented strategy; a global macro, opportunistic fund; and a short maturity, carry oriented strategy. Benchmarked mandates include US and global bond fund strategies which can be tailored to meet the needs of institutional investors. Drake's investment strategies are based on the principle of diversification and exploiting the performance advantages of managing a relatively smaller aggregate asset base with a flexible investment process. They believe that no single risk should dominate returns. By diversifying a portfolio or employing multiple sources of value added, Drake seeks to generate attractive excess returns with reasonable variability within the context of the market environment. They look to add value through the use of top-down strategies such as actively managing a portfolio's exposure to interest rates, changing market volatility, yield curve positioning and sector rotation. The firm also employs bottom-up strategies involving the relative analyses of comparable instruments and selection of specific securities. By combining investment styles and focusing on both portfolio level and security level strategies, Drake attempts to position client portfolios and their funds to benefit from attractive excess returns while incurring acceptable levels of risk. Drake's investment process is designed to construct portfolios that integrate longer-term secular economic trends with sector / security level analyses. The first step is the formulation of the Drake View which involves harnessing the collective input of the portfolio management team and international research offices. This unique market view serves as the basis for investment decisions and sector allocations made across all of Drake's portfolios, regardless of the product. In developing the Drake View, the portfolio management team places significant emphasis on understanding and monitoring long-term or secular influences on the world economy and financial markets. Using the Drake View as the fundamental backdrop, Drake's sector teams then identify assets whose current value is inconsistent with the themes inherent in the Drake View. These opportunities are then implemented by the various sector teams, who are also responsible for monitoring and adjusting portfolio positioning as market conditions evolve. Having identified a set of positions, the portfolio management team applies their best forecast of expected return over the relevant time horizon. This varies with the type of position, with some having an intra-day horizon and others having up to a one-year time frame. Volatilities are then assigned, allowing the creation of ex-ante Sharpe ratios for the different strategies. The positions with the best risk return trade-off (highest Sharpe ratios) tend to be the larger risk positions.

AB is a research-driven investment adviser that is global in scope and client-centered in their approach. The firm’s global team of research professionals, whose disciplines include economics, fundamental equity, fixed income and quantitative research, gives them a competitive advantage in achieving investment success for their clients. Within these research disciplines, they also have investment professionals that focus on multi-asset, wealth management and alternative investment strategies.

Lightyear Capital invests in middle-market companies located in the United States with an EBITDA of more than USD 10 million and enterprise values of USD 0.2 - 2 billion. The firm targets companies operating in the fields of financial services, financial technology, healthcare and tech-enabled business services. It provides equity financing for buyout transactions. The firm acquires majority stakes.

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