Element Capital Management is an American

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

using a global macroeconomic investment strategy, founded in 2005 by Jeffrey Talpins.

Company overview

Element Capital is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2015, the company opened an office in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In April 2017,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

became a client of Element Capital, an early decision by the endowment’s then-new chief, N.P. “Narv” Narvekar. Other investors included the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Teachers Retirement System of Texas, and the

Alaska Permanent Fund The Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) is a constitutionally established permanent fund managed by a state-owned corporation, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC). It was established in Alaska in 1976 by Article 9, Section 15 of the Alaska Sta ...

. 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. In December 2018 ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported the fund had quietly become a “heavyweight,” managing $50 billion+. In January 2020, in order to continue prioritizing performance over asset-gathering, the fund proactively reduced its AUM by 20%. 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. 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.

Investment strategy

The fund uses a global macroeconomic strategy, trading based on political and

economic trend Economic trend may refer to: *all the economic indicators that are the subject of economic forecasting **see also: econometrics *general trends in the economy, see: economic history Economic history is the study of history using methodologica ...

s, 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.

Performance

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

Key people

Jeffrey Talpins is the founder of Element and its chief investment officer since the fund launched in April 2005. In 2012, Adam Prestandrea joined Element Capital, stepping down as co-head of investments at Arpad Busson’s EIM SA. 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. In September 2021, Element hired former member of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

's rate-setting

Monetary Policy Committee The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for three and a half days, eight times a year, to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom (the Bank of England Base Rate). It is also respo ...

, Gertjan Vlieghe, as its chief economist.

References

External links

* {{Hedge funds Financial services companies established in 2007 Hedge fund firms in New York City American companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in New York City