Welcome to
Fort Street

Fort Street Asset Management is a boutique money manager based in Honolulu. Founded by Richard Wertheimer and Clint Dodson in 2019, we actively manage an investment portfolio for a small group of like-minded investors in separately managed accounts and a recently launched fund.

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Wolf Wertheimer at Pipe

At Fort Street, we provide our clients with world class investment management, an extensive network of relationships, and our total commitment, all wrapped in a transparent and flexible investment structure.

Our Investment Objective

To preserve capital and compound returns above market over a rolling five-year period.

Our Investment Strategy

Fort Street’s investment strategy is based on a core equity portfolio that is enhanced with external investments in third-party funds and other relevant opportunities.  

  • Focus is on fundamental research and making good long-term investments.

  • Not predicated on shooting the lights out or the short-term vagaries of the markets.

  • Disciplined yet adaptable approach.

Why Fort Street?

Innovative world class fund management for like-minded investors

  • Experienced Fund Managers 

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    We bring 100 years of investment management experience to the table, having worked with some of the world’s leading fund managers.

  • Family Approach

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    Managing money for a small number of clients allows us to give our investment partners the attention they deserve. We place a strong emphasis on total transparency and communication.

  • Extensive Network

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    Our relationships allows us to punch above our weight. Leveraging a virtual team of contact from a variety of industries and disciplines gives us access to high quality ideas and best-in-breed fund managers.

  • Global Perspective

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    Having lived, studied, and worked in and around China for more than 30 years gives us an appreciation of the bigger picture and an ability to source investment opportunities far and wide.

  • Aligned Interests

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    A significant portion of our personal liquid net worth is invested alongside our clients. We grow our own food and eat our own cooking, family style.

  • Proven Track Record

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    Our portfolios have performed as advertised. In 2020, we protected capital as the markets melted down around us yet were still able to achieve returns in excess of our benchmarks.  

  • Far From the Madding Crowd

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    Based in Hawaii, we are less susceptible to the daily onslaught of market and world news, helping us stay true to our investment strategy and maintain a long-term orientation.

  • Dedicated to our Clients

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    We love what we do and the satisfaction we get from helping our investment partners is immeasurable.  

Fort Street’s Investment Portfolio

A patient investment approach which is appropriately robust and adaptable.

Fort Street’s Investment Portfolio:  

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Core Equity Portfolio

Fort Street uses a core set of principles that help deliver the goods without betting the farm.

  • Primary investment focus

  • Long-term orientated

  • 30 - 60 securities based on fundamental analysis

Investment Strategy:
A healthy balance between risk and reward

Investment Style:
Agnostic, unconstrained, and straightforward

Investment Process:
Rigorous industry and company analysis

Risk Management:
Paranoid optimists  

External Investments Icon

External Investments

More arrows in our quiver.              

  • Enhanced ability to protect assets and increase returns

  • Holistic approach

  • Invest in third-party funds

Holistic Approach:
While we don’t aspire to be all things to all people, we manage our client funds holistically.

Low Correlation:
A more comprehensive portfolio that is less correlated with the broader markets.

Opportunistic:
Ability to invest outside our wheelhouse or in markets where we don’t have access.

Why Fort Street?

To our investment partners, we are committed to:
  • Professional Money Managers: We bring 50 years of investment management experience to the table, having worked with some of the world’s leading fund managers.

  • Highly Personal Service: Managing money for a small number of clients allows us to give our investment partners the attention they deserve. We review each account daily and communicate on a regular basis, keeping everyone updated on what we are thinking and how the portfolios are doing.

  • Extensive Network: Our extensive network of relationships allows us to punch above our weight, leveraging a virtual team of contacts from a variety of industries and disciplines. Our network gives us access to high quality ideas and best-in-breed external managers.

  • Global Perspective: 32 years living, working, and studying in and around China gives a unique appreciation of the bigger picture and an ability to source investment opportunities far and wide.

  • Aligned Interests: Most of our personal liquid assets are invested pari pasu with our clients. We grow our own food and eat our own cooking, family style.

  • Proven Track Record: Our portfolios have performed as advertised. In 2020, we protected capital as the markets melted down around us, yet we were still able to achieve returns well in excess of our benchmarks.

  • Dedicated to our Clients: We love what we do and the satisfaction we get from helping our clients is immeasurable.

Fort Street's Equity Portfolio

Fort Street uses a core set of principles that help deliver the goods without betting the farm.

Our Team

Fort Street’s team has more than 100 years of professional investment experience. We have managed billions of dollars of hedge fund, institutional, and family office money for some of the leading players in the investment industry.

External Funds and Other Assets

While we do not aspire to be all things to all people, we manage our client funds holistically, taking into account a multitude of different factors and conditions. Our overriding aim is to anticipate changing market dynamics so that we not only have better odds of enhancing our returns but are as prepared as possible for the proverbial punch that no one sees coming.

Through our extensive network of relationships and based on our investment views and rigorous analysis, we are always on the lookout for ways to enhance and supplement our core portfolio with external funds and compelling investment ideas.

This approach broadens our investment scope, reduces risk, and lowers the portfolio’s correlation with the listed (equity and bond) markets.

Widening our investment circle also extends our ability to find compelling investment opportunities and helps us create a self-licking ice cream cone.  
Contact Us for a Consultation

Our Strategy

  • Returns: Asset allocation is a key determinant of investment returns.

  • Well positioned: Our experience and network makes us well positioned to help our investment partners with their asset allocation decisions.

  • Macroeconomic Analysis: We spend a considerable amount of time analyzing macroeconomic trends to determine suitable strategies.

  • Synergies: Managing the global equity portfolio and setting asset allocation strategies are not mutually exclusive.

  • Access: Our extensive network of relationships gives us access to third-party funds with specialized and differentiated strategies.

Richard Wertheimer

Portfolio Manager

Richard played rugby with the Taiwan national team and drove a taxi in Taipei.

Richard lived and worked in and around China for 32 years where he held a variety of positions in investment management and institutional broking. Originally from New York City, Richard bought a one-way ticket to China in 1984 at the age of 19, eventually settling in Taiwan. As part of his goal to become fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Richard matriculated as a local student in a Chinese University, played rugby with the national Taiwan team, and drove a taxi in Taipei. After playing at Marco Polo for a few years, Richard begrudgingly came to his senses and rejoined the modern world as an institutional broker for Barings Securities and then Merrill Lynch. He then moved to the buy side, managing hedge fund money for Strome Susskind, Stan Druckenmiller, and the Citadel Investment Group. He also advised the Macquarie Group on strategic investments in China and built out a regional investment bank for Taiwan’s Yuanta Group. Prior to setting up Fort Street, Richard worked with Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management group in Honolulu. Richard was a speaker at CNBC’s2020 “Delivering Alpha” conference, one of the premiere investment events of the year. Richard resides on Oahu with his family. He is 56 years old, has three children aged 15 to 20, and is an avid surfer.

Clint Dodson

Operations & Client Services

Clint is a former Army Ranger and was captain of the football team at West Point.

Growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, it was evident from a young age that Clint was a gifted student-athlete. At West Point, he was in his element, falling in love with the school’s rich tradition and history. He was named captain of the football team in his junior and senior years and ranks ninth in all-time receptions for Army football. After graduating from West Point, Clint commissioned as an infantry officer just after 9/11. Looking to be at the tip of the spear, he served as an Army Ranger in combat operations in  Afghanistan and Iraq, where he received a Bronze Star for his meritorious service. Seeking an opportunity to apply his experiences in a non-kinetic manner, Clint joined Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management as a financial advisor in 2008, focusing on risk management and asset allocation strategies. There is no substitute for leading men in battle and having the responsibility to bring them safely home. Those foundational experiences have been key building blocks for building trust with clients and helping them with their financial needs. As the ultimate team player, Clint is the ideal person to have in your foxhole. Clint lives on the windward  side of Oahu in Kailua with his wife and three kids aged 7, 10, and 12. He is still in the Army Reserves as a Conflict Resolution Officer with Special Operations Command Pacific. Clint enjoys spending time with family, sabermetrics, playing golf, and is a semi-reformed fitness enthusiast.

Vanessa Gibson

Consultant

Vanessa is a pioneer in the Asian hedge fund industry, an experienced family office investor, and the founder of an emerging fintech business.  

Vanessa Gibson is based in Hong Kong and is the Founder of “illio”, a digital platform for portfolio analytics. illio is a customer centric solution providing transparency and portfolio management and analytical tools that empowers users to monitor and manage their investment portfolio. Vanessa has used the in-depth experience and investing expertise honed over 35 years’, across multiple global asset classes including Equity, FX, Fixed-income, Convertibles, Private Equity and Hedge Funds to build an institutional quality SaaS software that is easy to use and within the price range of Private Wealth Investors and individuals. 

Vanessa was previously Founder and Principal of Wharton Investment Advisors Limited, Hong Kong, one of Asia’s first hedge funds founded in June 1996 and whose AUM reached US$1 billion in 2008. 

Vanessa was previously Winner of “The Alternative Investment Awards” - the Best 1999 Fund Performance for Relative Value/Arbitrage category and voted one of “The 50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” in 2010 by The Hedge Fund Journal. 

Between 2009 and 2014 Wharton Investment only managed money for its Partners and a number of Managed Accounts for several large single-Family Offices. During this period, Vanessa also sat on the Investment Committee of Northview, a large single-family office based in the Cayman Islands, before taking over as CIO between January 2015 and June 2019. As CIO, Vanessa was responsible for the investment and allocation of the multi asset portfolio as well as the risk management. She was also a Director of the ELMA Foundation Impact Investment Board. 

Prior to founding Wharton Investment, Vanessa had more than 10 years’ experience in Investment Banking, including at Board level, in trading, sales and structuring inequities, fixed income and Derivatives. 

Vanessa is currently a Board member of Sustainable Finance Initiative, a Hong Kong based group focusing on sustainable investing and ESG. 

Over the years Vanessa has also funded and supported several programs for the Christina Noble Foundation including establishing a school for children inside Mongolia’s main prison. 

Vanessa continues to make investments across multi- asset classes globally from her office in HK.

Dan Clarke

Consultant

Dan Clarke is a leading investor in digital assets and has many years of experience in the investment banking industry.

Dan Clarke started his career in the world of Investment banking at UBS London in 1999 before moving to Asia in 2002. After several years in Hong Kong he moved to Taiwan to build and manage Barclays Taiwan equity business from 2012-2016. He subsequently serves as Taiwan country head for Macquarie Investment Bank from 2016-2018. In 2018, Dan left Investment Banking to focus on crypto, an area he had been personally invested in since 2014. Dan worked as the Chief Marketing Officer for Taiwan’s largest digital asset exchange in 2018-2019 and remains an advisor to Delta Exchange, an Indian based crypto currency derivatives platform established in 2017 and an industry leading options player.  Dan and his family are based in Taiwan.  

News & Updates

Videos
Fort Street in the News
CNBC | October 7, 2020
Asset Managers Going Big From Home
Fort Street presents at CNBC's Delivery Alpha Investor Conference (Business In Hawaii)
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CNBC | October 7, 2020
Asset Managers Going Big From Home
Fort Street presents at CNBC's Delivery Alpha Investor Conference (Business In Hawaii)
Read More >>
CNBC | October 7, 2020
Asset Managers Going Big From Home
Fort Street presents at CNBC's Delivery Alpha Investor Conference (Business In Hawaii)
Read More >>

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