I am pleased to announce that beginning January 1, 2010, I will be co-managing Entermedia Growth Partners. Entermedia is a 16 year old hedge fund focused on media, communications, entertainment, and communications technology. Entermedia will be a separate business from Northlake but is highly complementary. The Entermedia investment portfolio contains long and short investments in many of the stocks that Northlake clients currently own or have owned in the past. The universe from which investments are drawn at Entermedia is virtually identical to the universe I research on behalf of Northlake clients.
Northlake clients will benefit in several ways from my involvement with Entermedia. First, Entermedia may be a good investment option for some Northlake clients. The fund is managed more aggressively than the typical Northlake portfolio but Entermedia also uses lots of hedging strategies. This has allowed the fund to perform well in both rising and falling markets. In fact, one of Entermedia’s best years was 2008 when the fund fell just 8% despite a 40% decline for many major market averages. Second, the larger combined asset base of Northlake and Entermedia will allow greater access to research services, company management teams, and Wall Street analysts. More resources will be available to Northlake as I strive to continue the fine record of investment performance created over the past five years.
Entermedia is currently managed by Ken Goldman, one of my best friends and my primary confidante on media and telecom stocks. Ken is several years older than me and is retiring so he and his wife can spend time in China where Ken’s wife was born and raised and her family still lives. Another of my best friends, Tom Curran, will be my partner at Entermedia. Tom and I have been friends since our kids were in the same classes in grade school. Amazingly both of us have a child about to graduate from college! Tom has prior experience managing his own hedge fund and will handle all operational aspects of Entermedia in addition to bringing his expertise at analyzing balance sheets and corporate credit quality. Northlake clients can also gain comfort in that Tom will be sharing my office space and available to cover for me when I am out of the office during market hours.
I am very excited to be expanding my own money management activities and thrilled that Entermedia is such a complementary business that will bring many advantages and opportunities to my Northlake clients. I look forward speaking with each Northlake client about Entermedia as we discuss year end planning. In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving holiday!