Alternative Investment Group Expands Investment Team, Names Joel Gantcher as Head of Manager Research and Sam Sussman as Head of Investment Strategy

SOUTHPORT, Conn., Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Alternative Investment Group, a $1.5 billion alternative investment management firm that invests globally in long/short equity strategies, announced today that Joel Gantcher has joined as Managing Director, Head of Manager Research, and Samuel Sussman has joined as Managing Director, Head of Investment Strategy, effective January 5, 2012.  Both Mr. Gantcher and Mr. Sussman will become members of the firm's Investment Committee.

In his new role, Mr. Gantcher will spearhead the firm's manager research, sourcing, and due diligence efforts to identify, evaluate, and include optimal managers in the Alternative Investment Group portfolios.   

Mr. Sussman will direct the firm's top-down research, identifying investment opportunities across strategies, industry sectors, and geographies.  He will also assume primary responsibility for sourcing and monitoring the firm's event-driven and credit managers. 

"Joel and Sam will significantly strengthen our investment team by enhancing our ability to source and research new managers, as well as make better strategic decisions for our investors," said David Storrs, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alternative Investment Group.  "These appointments support our mission to identify the best hedge fund managers and construct actively managed, diversified investment portfolios that reward our investors with strong risk-adjusted returns."

Mr. Gantcher said, "I am excited to join Alternative Investment Group because I share the firm's commitment to performance and identifying best-of-breed managers, with a focus on those that are under the radar.  The firm has a truly institutional platform and an exceptional reputation with both investors and managers.  More importantly, the team at Alternative Investment Group is world class and dedicated to serving investors first."

"The commitment to research at Alternative Investment Group was a key reason why I joined the firm," Mr. Sussman explained, adding, "The firm recognizes that investment strategies and markets are getting more complex, and they view bottom-up manager selection and top-down strategy research as fundamental to the firm's success today and in the future."

Both Mr. Gantcher and Mr. Sussman worked at Cadogan Management prior to joining Alternative Investment Group. 

Mr. Gantcher was a partner and member of Cadogan's investment committee.  He joined the firm in 2005 and was responsible for sourcing and monitoring long/short equity, global macro, and CTA managers, as well as portfolio construction.  Prior to Cadogan, Mr. Gantcher was Strategy Head of Safra Asset Management's (formerly Alpha Investment Management) Equity Hedge and Global Macro Investments, where he was a member of the firm's investment and allocation committees and was responsible for long/short equity, global macro and CTA investments.  He received a BA in Economics from Brown University, an MA in International Studies with a concentration in Latin America from The University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from The Wharton School.

Mr. Sussman was a partner at Cadogan.  He joined the firm in 2008 and was responsible for sourcing and monitoring credit and event-driven managers, including distressed, long/short credit, mortgage, and event-driven equity managers, and portfolio construction.   Prior to Cadogan, Mr. Sussman was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns where he spent nearly 13 years in the firm's securitized products area.  He holds a BA in Economics, magna cum laude, from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

About Alternative Investment Group

Founded in 1996, Alternative Investment Group is an independent investment management firm headquartered in Southport, CT.  Partner-owned, the firm has a 15-year track record of investing with alternative asset managers in the U.S. and internationally.  For more information, please go to: www.altinv.com.

SOURCE Alternative Investment Group