Hedging Risk, Accessing Opportunity with Dave Thomas

FEG Insight Bridge

In this episode of FEG’s Insight Bridge Podcast, Greg Dowling chats with Dave Thomas, founder of Atalan Capital Partners. They discuss the challenges and opportunities in the hedge fund industry, the impact of structural and cyclical headwinds and Atalan's valuation-based investment approach. Dave also shares his insights on emerging trends like generative AI and European defense spending, and why he believes Atalan’s long-short methodology may be especially beneficial today.

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Chapters

1. Podcast Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Introduction of Dave Thomas (00:01:03)

3. Dave Thomas' Journey to Wall Street (00:01:46)

4. Lessons Learned on the "Long-Short" Journey (00:03:32)

5. Launching Atalan Capital Partners (00:04:27)

6. Defining Success Over the Long-term (00:05:41)

7. Embarking on a Listening Tour (00:08:46)

8. What’s With the Name — Atalan? (00:11:06)

9. Hedged Equity 101 (00:12:08)

10. What’s a Short Rebate? (00:13:56)

11. A Brutal Few Years for Hedged Equity & Active Managers, But Why? (00:15:59)

12. Market Conditions for Hedged Equity to Outperform (00:22:24)

13. Valuation-based Investing (00:24:25)

14. Fundamental Trends Atalan’s Focused On (00:26:34)

15. Advice for Those Starting a Fund Today (00:31:18)

16. Fun Facts About Dave Thomas (00:36:25)