Gary E. Shugrue
President and Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Shugrue is the Founder, President and Chief Investment Officer of Ascendant Capital Partners LP. In addition to serving as CIO, Gary serves as the portfolio manager for the ACP Strategic Opportunities Fund, a dedicated long/short equity fund of hedge fund.
Mr. Shugrue launched Ascendant Capital Partners in August 2001 as a newly created subsidiary of Turner Investment Partners, a $17 billion asset management firm. He brings more than 20 years of hedge fund experience and more than 30 years of investment experience to the Firm.
Prior to launching Ascendant, Mr. Shugrue served as the co-founder and partner of Argos Advisors LLC, a long/short equity hedge fund firm. Along with a partner, he started Argos in 1988 and grew the firm from $1.6 million in client assets to more than $135 million in assets at its peak. Fund clients included high net worth individuals, off-shore investors, endowments and corporate pension plans. Mr. Shugrue retired from the business during the summer of 2000.
From 1981 to 1988 Mr. Shugrue served as a Vice President in Institutional Equity Sales with Kidder Peabody, Prudential Securities and Merrill Lynch, servicing large institutional clients in the Mid-Atlantic region. From 1977 to 1979 he was an Account Executive with Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Shugrue earned his bachelor's degree in Accounting from Villanova University in 1976 and his M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1981.
Stephanie Strid Davis
Chief Operating Officer; Client Service & Fund Administration
Mrs. Davis joined Ascendant Capital Partners, LP in September, 2001. She currently serves as the Director of Client Service and Fund Administration as well as the Chief Compliance Officer for Ascendant Capital Partners, LP and the ACP Strategic Opportunities Fund Complex. In her various roles at Ascendant, Stephanie supports the ongoing needs of all clients as well as manages the operations of the Firm and the service providers it works with.
Mrs. Davis has more than 17 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Ascendant Stephanie worked on the Institutional Equity Sales Desk at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in New York, covering hedge funds and traditional, long only equity firms. Prior to CSFB, Stephanie worked as a portfolio associate at Chancellor LGT Senior Secured Asset Management Co., focusing on the portfolio management of senior secured bank debt. Mrs. Davis started her career at Merrill Lynch in their Private Client Group as an associate financial consultant in 1994.
Mrs. Davis received her undergraduate B.A. degree from Georgetown University in 1992. Mrs. Davis graduated from the Fox School of Business at Temple University in 1999 with an MBA in International Business.
Patricia (Missy) Martin
Operational Due Diligence
Missy Martin joined Ascendant Capital Partners in September, 2008 to serve as Director of Operational Due Diligence. Ms. Martin works directly with Gary Shugrue to monitor the risk exposures of the ACP Strategic Opportunities Fund managers. During the Due Diligence process of prospective hedge fund managers for ACP Strategic Opportunities Fund, Missy focuses on the operational aspects of the hedge fund being considered and is responsible for extensive due diligence research into the trading, back office, risk controls and document review of the prospective hedge fund. Missy has extensive experience with hedge fund operations having served as the head trader for Argos Partners from 1993 to 2000.
Ms. Martin brings fifteen years of industry experience to Ascendant Capital Partners. Prior to joining the firm, Missy served as the Head Equity Trader for Argos Partners in Wayne, PA. Prior to joining Argos Partners, Ms. Martin served in a variety of Institutional Equity sales positions for Instinet Corporation, Bomar Securities and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets. She graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 1983 with a B.S. in Marketing.
Timothy Holmes
Advisory Consultant
Mr. Holmes brings nineteen years of investment management and securities industry experience to ACP. Prior to ACP, he most recently was a Managing Director in charge of the client service, sales and marketing at Coast Asset Management, a multibillion dollar fund of hedge funds and fixed income arbitrage manager. Prior to Coast he was Client Portfolio Manager at Nuveen Asset Management where he was responsible for product management, client communications and business development. Mr. Holmes was also a Managing Director at BayStar Capital, a micro-cap long/short fund, where he was responsible for managing and operations of the firm. In addition, he spent six years with John A. Levin & Co., where he held several key positions in sales and marketing, including Institutional Sales Director. Previously, Mr. Holmes was a Vice President of Alternative Products at Robertson Stephens and a Senior Investment Officer for Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management. Prior to his financial services career, Mr. Holmes served as an Officer in the United States Navy (active and reserve) from 1986 to 2002, where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Mr. Holmes received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis.
