Industry veteran to lead charge in expanding firm’s alternative platform
Franklin Square Capital Partners, a leading sponsor of alternative investment funds, today announced that it has hired Greg Bassuk as Managing Director and Head of Liquid Alternative Strategies. In this role, Mr. Bassuk will oversee the development and management of the firm’s liquid alternatives platform.
“Greg Bassuk is a veteran in the liquid alternative investments space with an impressive track record,” said Michael C. Forman, Chairman and CEO of Franklin Square. “We are delighted Greg has joined Franklin Square to lead our liquid alts efforts, which we will pursue with the same focus on transparency and investor protection that has defined our firm’s approach since our inception.”
Mr. Bassuk was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of IndexIQ, an asset management firm that he co-founded and sold to New York Life Investment Management. He helped IndexIQ bring the industry’s first set of liquid alternative investments to market through mutual fund, ETF, separate account and model portfolio products, growing the firm into the industry’s largest alternative ETF provider. Prior to IndexIQ, Mr. Bassuk held business-building roles at Time Warner, served as Managing Director of private investment firm McGovern Capital, co-founded SmartPortfolio.com (which was sold to TheStreet), and practiced as a corporate and securities attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
Mr. Bassuk is working closely with Franklin Square’s Chief Investment Officer Mike Kelly, former CEO of ORIX USA Asset Management and FrontPoint Partners, who joined Franklin Square earlier this year. He will also work with other product development specialists at Franklin Square, including Steve Landau, formerly of New York Life Investment Management.
“Franklin Square has created an impressive set of differentiated alternative investment funds,” said Bassuk. “I am pleased to be joining the firm to lead the effort to build out a liquid alternatives business that will continue Franklin Square’s role as a leading sponsor of alternative investments.”
Mr. Bassuk was recognized as one of four “Fund Marketers of the Year” at the 2012 Mutual Fund Industry Awards and by NICSA in 2013 for Creativity in Marketing Operations. For his longtime civic work, Mr. Bassuk was named one of two annual recipients nationwide of the United States Young American Medal for Service. He is a board member of several civic organizations, including the Coalition for Debtor Education and the United Way of Westchester and Putnam Counties, where he recently served as Board Chairman.
Mr. Bassuk received his B.S. with Honors from Cornell University and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
About Franklin Square
Franklin Square is a leading manager of alternative investment funds designed to enhance investors’ portfolios by providing access to asset classes, strategies and asset managers that typically have been available to only the largest institutional investors. The firm’s funds offer “endowment-style” investment strategies that help construct diversified portfolios and manage risk. Franklin Square strives not only to maximize investment returns but also to set the industry standard for best practices by focusing on transparency, investor protection and education for investment professionals and their clients.
Founded in Philadelphia in 2007, Franklin Square quickly established itself as a leader in the world of alternative investments by introducing innovative credit-based income funds, including the industry’s first non-traded business development company. The firm managed approximately $17.0 billion in assets as of September 30, 2015.
Important Disclosures
Individual investors and endowments may have different investment horizons, liquidity needs and risk tolerances. In addition, fees that may be incurred by an investor in a fund sponsored by Franklin Square may be different than fees incurred by an endowment investing in similar assets as those in which the funds invest.