Element Capital Management

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
Element Capital Management LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryInvestment Management
FoundedApril 2005; 20 years ago (2005-04)
FounderJeffrey Talpins
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, U.S.
ProductsHedge fund
AUMUS$3 billion
(as of January 21, 2025)[1]
Number of employees
66[2] (2025)
Websiteelementcapital.com

Element Capital Management is an American hedge fund using a global macroeconomic investment strategy,[3] founded in 2005[4] by Jeffrey Talpins.

Company overview

[edit]

Element Capital is headquartered in New York City.[5] In 2015, the company opened an office in Mayfair, London.[6]

In April 2017, Harvard University became a client of Element Capital,[7] an early decision by the endowment’s then-new chief, N.P. “Narv” Narvekar. [8] Other investors included the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Teachers Retirement System of Texas, and the Alaska Permanent Fund.[9]

The fund is almost always closed to new investments in order to remain an optimal size. The last time the fund opened to new capital was in mid-2018. It attracted $3 billion, mostly from existing clients, in just one month.[10]

In December 2018 The Wall Street Journal reported the fund had quietly become a “heavyweight,” managing $50 billion+.[11]

In January 2020, in order to continue prioritizing performance over asset-gathering, the fund proactively reduced its AUM by 20%.[12]

In early 2021, Element Capital returned about $2 billion of 2020 profits to its clients in order to maintain control of the growth of the fund, focusing on performance rather than accumulating assets.[13]

In 2024, Element Capital returned more than $6 billion to investors, shrinking its asset base and moving closer to managing mostly internal capital. This move is part of Element’s strategy to reduce the number of outside investors. The firm has shifted toward managing a smaller asset base with the goal of generating higher returns, following three consecutive years of losses that saw the fund lose about 20% between 2021 and 2023. The fund delivered a return of 22.5% in 2024.[14]

Investment strategy

[edit]

The fund uses a global macroeconomic strategy, trading based on political and economic trends, rather than the fundamental analysis of individual companies. Talpins uses options to try to capture growth from strategies aimed at predicting global economic shifts while also limiting potential losses from those strategies.[15]

Performance

[edit]

Since launching in 2005 the fund averaged 21% annual returns, as of March 2019, with no down years.[16] [17] During the global financial crises of 2008, the fund returned 35%, and in 2009 it gained 79%.[18]

Key people

[edit]

Jeffrey Talpins is the founder of Element and its chief investment officer since the fund launched in April 2005.[19]

In 2012, Adam Prestandrea joined Element Capital, stepping down as co-head of investments at Arpad Busson’s EIM SA.[20]

In October 2019, the company hired Colin Teichholtz, former Blue Mountain Capital fixed-income head, to research macro investment strategies and policy developments as part of the portfolio team.[21]

In September 2021, Element hired former member of the Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, Gertjan Vlieghe, as its chief economist.[22]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Element Capital returns $6bn as focus shifts to internal funds - Hedgeweek". 2025-01-22. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  2. ^ "Element Capital Management | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  3. ^ McDonald, Michael (6 May 2019). "Harvard Piles Into Hedge Funds as New Chief Overhauls Endowment". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  4. ^ Uhlfelder, Eric. "Global macro funds are having a stellar 2018". Financial News. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Element Capital Management LLC: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. ^ Cardno, Alex. "Element Capital expands with London operations | HFM Week". HFMWeek. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  7. ^ McDonald, Michael (6 June 2017). "Harvard Ditches Hedge Fund Run by Harvard Grad". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  8. ^ McDonald, Michael (6 May 2019). "Harvard Piles Into Hedge Funds as New Chief Overhauls Endowment". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  9. ^ Kruppa, Miles (2018-12-10). "Decoding Element". Absolute Return. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  10. ^ Burton, Katherine (6 August 2018). "Element Is Raising $3 Billion as Hedge Fund Returns 21%". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  11. ^ Zuckerman, Gregory; Levy, Rachael. "Jeffrey Talpins Is the Hedge-Fund King You've Never Heard Of". WSJ. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  12. ^ Robin, Wigglesworth (29 July 2019). "Hedge fund Element Capital to raise performance fees to 40%". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2020-06-29. Element also plans to reduce the size of its fund by 20 per cent by the end of 2019.
  13. ^ Fletcher, Laurence (2021-01-08). "Hedge fund Element to return $2bn after profiting in pandemic". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  14. ^ Nishant, Kumar (January 21, 2025). "Talpins' Hedge Fund Returns $6 Billion to Mostly Manage His Cash". Bloomberg.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Levy, Gregory Zuckerman and Rachael (2018-12-02). "Jeffrey Talpins Is the Hedge-Fund King You've Never Heard Of". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  16. ^ Vardi, Nathan. "The Hedge Fund Manager Who Bucked The Trend And Became A Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  17. ^ Levy, Gregory Zuckerman and Rachael (2018-12-02). "Jeffrey Talpins Is the Hedge-Fund King You've Never Heard Of". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  18. ^ Zuckerman, Carolyn Cui and Gregory (2015-09-08). "An Obscure Hedge Fund Is Buying Tens of Billions of Dollars of U.S. Treasurys". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  19. ^ Levy, Gregory Zuckerman and Rachael (2018-12-02). "Jeffrey Talpins Is the Hedge-Fund King You've Never Heard Of". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  20. ^ Westbrook, Jesse. "EIM's Prestandrea Is Said to Join Hedge Fund Element Capital". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  21. ^ "Element Capital Hires BlueMountain Fixed-Income Head". Institutional Investor. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  22. ^ Fletcher, Laurence (2021-09-20). "Hedge fund Element hires former MPC member Gertjan Vlieghe". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
[edit]