James Laurence Melcher (born November 5, 1939) is an American

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

manager and former Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual and team

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

events at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Early and personal life

Melcher grew up in

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and is Jewish.Martin Harry Greenberg
''The Jewish lists: physicists and generals, actors and writers, and hundreds of other lists of accomplished Jews''
/ref> He attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, from which he graduated with a B.A. in English in 1961.

Fencing career

Melcher first learned to fence during his freshman year with the Columbia Lions fencing team. During college he enlisted into the

US Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 202 ...

, and was on active duty for six months."Melcher, Jamie,"
US Fencing Hall of Fame. He graduated in 1961, and afterwards remained in New York to work on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

. However, he continued fencing at the Fencers Club in his free time, and took lessons for several years from Hall of Famer Michel Alaux. Two years later, he was a 1963 Pan American Games team member. Around age 30, Melcher "finally broke through as a top fencer," when he defeated the world's No. 1 fencer in the 1970 Martini Épée Challenge. At the 1971 Pan American Games, Melcher won a gold medal in team épée and a bronze medal in individual épée. Melcher was a two-time US National Champion, winning in Men's Individual Épée in both 1971 and 1972. He competed for the United States in the

. Melcher was a first alternate for the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

and the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, and a second alternate for the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. His competitive fencing career largely ended in 1974 when he developed

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

, from which he has since recovered. Melcher became Chairman of the Fencers Club in the late 1970s and served for a decade, and became Chairman again in 2006. Melcher is a member of the US Fencing Hall of Fame.

Finance career; Balestra Capital Management

Melcher maintains that for both investing and fencing, one needs "a high level of

self-control Self-control, an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's b ...

, particularly control over emotional reactions". Melcher began his

career in the Equity Sales Department of

A.G. Becker A. G. Becker & Co. was an investment bank based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Becker's history goes back to the 1880s when it was a commercial paper house. It evolved into a full line investment banking firm with offices in Chicago, New ...

.Presenter James L. Melcher, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Balestra Capital, Ltd.,
TIGER 21. After six years, Melcher formed First Venture Fund, a

venture capital fund Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

that he managed for ten years. He founded Balestra Capital Management, a

global macro Global macro is an investment strategy based on the interpretation and prediction of large-scale events related to national economies, history, and international relations. The strategy typically employs forecasts and analysis of interest rate trend ...

manager, in 1979, and it became an SEC-registered

investment adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

in 1987. Melcher named the firm after the 'balestra', a fencing move involving a sudden leap forward, but which also sometimes "dictates a strategic retreat." Melcher started Balestra Capital Partners in 1991."En Garde!; Hedge chief James Melcher stabs at nifty stock plays while warding off danger,"
''Barrons''. As of 2004, it had an annual return of 22.84% a year, compared to the annual return of the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...

of 13.14%. He started Balestra Spectrum in 1999. As of 2004, it had an annual return of 10.59% a year, compared to the annual return of the

of -1.16%. Balestra was named Macro Global Hedge Fund of the Year by ''Absolute Return Magazine'' in 2008. The fund bet against

mortgage-backed securities A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security (an 'instrument') which is secured by a mortgage or collection of mortgages. The mortgages are aggregated and sold to a group of individuals (a government agency or investment ba ...

using

credit default swap A credit default swap (CDS) is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a debt default (by the debtor) or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against som ...

s."Balestra's Melcher believes stocks still vulnerable,"
Reuters, February 11, 2009. In 2007, Balestra Capital's returns were 199.14%. In 2008, when the

fell 38.49%, Balestra gave investors a 45.75% return. In 2009, it had over $1 billion in assets under management.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melcher, James 1939 births Living people American male épée fencers American hedge fund managers American investors American money managers American stock traders Businesspeople from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Lions fencers Fencers at the 1963 Pan American Games Fencers at the 1971 Pan American Games Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Jewish American sportspeople Jewish male épée fencers Olympic fencers of the United States Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Sportspeople from Pittsfield, Massachusetts United States Army reservists 21st-century American Jews Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games

Early and personal life

Fencing career

Finance career; Balestra Capital Management

See also

References

External links