Ulysses Management LLC

Our investing process is rooted in rigorous fundamental analysis with focus on valuation, barriers to entry, long-term sustainability of business model, sound financial structure, and a strong management team.

Our discipline seeks to identify companies that we believe may be mispriced or undervalued by the market and which our research supports the potential for exceptional earnings, revenue, and/or asset growth.

We also seek opportunities in emergent trends, disruptors, or turnaround situations and look to identify a proper inflection point in development for timely investment to capitalize in the growth trajectory as it accelerates.

We employ strict risk control through asset allocation and derivatives where appropriate. Our investments are primarily in, but not limited to, US public markets.

The goal of the Ulysses Hedge Fund/Managed Accounts group is to manage capital and exposure utilizing hedge fund and other investment strategies. We endeavor to generate superior long-term returns with less risk than the market at large. First and foremost, we are fundamental investors with a hunger to succeed focused primarily on long-term capital appreciation.

We seek to achieve this objective by investing in a portfolio of investment partnerships, managed accounts, and other investment vehicles that employ a variety of investment styles and strategies. Over time, we have sought to assemble and maintain a strategically diversified portfolio that, in the aggregate, is relatively balanced. We prioritize obtaining equity rates of return with reduced risk.

Our investments are not limited by geographic parameters. We seek managers investing in geographic areas that best suit their particular style, knowledge base, and skill set.

Above all, we believe in investing in the people behind the opportunity. We seek to align ourselves with strong managers who possess a proven track record and specific expertise in a given area. As such, each opportunity is rigorously vetted to evaluate compatibility of the management team with our investment philosophy and existing portfolio. We endeavor to identify investment opportunities across the market capitalization spectrum that offer risk- adjusted returns and will enhance our portfolio as a whole.

We believe that significant opportunities exist to acquire undervalued or mismanaged real estate assets or real estate that is under-performing due to inefficient ownership, as well as to develop or rehabilitate real estate product to meet demand in certain markets with attractive risk-adjusted returns. Ulysses has been able to successfully pursue this approach by focusing on three guiding investment philosophies: investment quality, value creation, and timing.

First, we feel that, over time, investment in quality properties in core, high-growth markets with supply constraints will produce superior returns. Second, we believe in value creation and that the willingness to assume an acceptable degree of risk to create a new product or to enhance an existing product is often rewarded with significant returns.

Finally, we regard timing as a crucial element to any investment, as real estate is a cyclical industry, with windows of opportunity in which to buy, develop, hold, or sell investments. Such cyclical timing is both market and product specific, and is impacted by both real estate fundamentals (supply and demand), and capital market ebbs and flows. While the nature of opportunities may change over time, we believe we can produce excellent real estate returns through all phases of real estate cycles.

The real estate investing philosophies outlined above are implemented using the following strategies:

Market Research and Timing
We focus on asset types and geographic regions to identify broad areas of opportunity, and then begin developing specific investment strategies to take advantage of these opportunities. By anticipating changes in market conditions, we strive to gain a competitive advantage in acquiring and developing assets and formulating attractive exit strategies.

Local Entrepreneur Network
Over time, we have cultivated relationships with an extensive network of local entrepreneurs throughout the nation who assist us in locating, pursuing, and investing in opportunities, often before they are widely marketed. We benefit from the management expertise and, in certain cases, the significant infrastructures of our operating partners. Through these affiliations, we are able to position and control opportunities on attractive terms and take advantage of local entrepreneurs’ extensive knowledge of local market conditions. We also believe that local knowledge and management can add significant value and generally seek to align our local entrepreneurs’ interests with our own by requiring them to invest alongside us, rather than simply participating in the profit of the project.

Our private equity group has a broad and flexible investment mandate to pursue attractive opportunities as a sponsor, co-investor, or limited partner. We invest in profitable, well-established companies with tangible competitive advantages. Our investment philosophy is to seek out opportunities born through change – change created by fundamental industry trends, economic cycles, technology, or specific company circumstances.

Frequently, our investment serves as a catalyst to manage the transition from founder/entrepreneur leadership to a professional management team. As a sponsor, we seek to partner with management to drive expanded market presence, improved profitability, enhanced capabilities through technology, and a steepened growth trajectory in our portfolio companies.

We invest across a broad range of industries and geographies. Our goal is to help management teams build long-term value that benefits all stakeholders. We structure our private equity investments based on each company’s circumstances and generally seek to invest in established businesses, typically requiring equity capital of between $10 and $50 million. For larger transactions, we have co-invested in partnership with other family offices or like-minded sponsors.