Introduction
Off Road Capital Management, LLC, is a New York City investment firm focused on investing in private assets that are idiosyncratic and less correlated to traditional asset classes. Each of the founders have greater than twenty years of experience in public and private markets and both successfully operated their own investment firms, Altitude Capital Partners and Loeb King Capital Management. They have collaborated for eleven years by participating on Boards together, investing in each-other’s funds, and analyzing and consummating investments. Off Road is a reflection of their combined investment expertise across a broad array of asset classes, and constitutes a formal process of sourcing, analyzing, and structuring investments in niche private assets in order to earn high quality and attractive risk-adjusted returns for clients and founders.
About Us
Gideon King
Gideon King is a founder and Managing Member of Off Road Capital Management. He was the former CEO/CIO and Principal of Loeb King Capital Management, a multi-strategy asset management firm managing assets of up to $1.4 billion. Loeb King’s flagship fund earned a 12.35% net internal rate of return with 6.49% volatility since its inception until November 2014.* During his time at Loeb King, Mr. King was lauded by Institutional Investor Magazine for being a responsible investor in periods of financial crisis. Being an integral part of a multi-asset-class vehicle for over 20 years accounts for Mr. King’s vast experience in a variety of areas, including global public and private assets, DIP Loans, trade claims, banks debt, arcane debt-linked and equity-linked instruments, public special situations and risk-arbitrage, litigation investments and vehicles, activist investments, SPACs, options, and other derivatives.
Mr. King received his Bachelor of the Arts degree in English from Northwestern University in 1992.
* The composition of the Off Road investment team and the composition of Altitude Capital Partners and Loeb King responsible for investment performance discussed on this page are not the same, and Off Road is not affiliated with either Altitude Capital Partner or Loeb King. The success of the Altitude Capital Partners or Loeb King is not predictive of the success of Off Road. Certain performance calculations are prepared internally and have not been audited or verified by a third party. The use of a different methodology for preparing, calculating or presenting performance returns may lead to different results and such differences may be material.
Philosophy
Off Road Capital Management is governed by a select core of beliefs and principles. A strong alignment of interest with our investors and operating partners is central to our operating philosophy. Transacting and partnering with driven high-integrity professionals is an imperative. Having processes in place designed to protect downside is of paramount importance; we use financial structuring (preferred equity, debt, “top of waterfall” mechanisms), deep value analysis, and scenario-based stress testing to exhaustively measure and intended to mitigate the risk of loss. A search for the facts and a focus on transformative issues distinguishes our approach. We place great value on diversification, as we understand from vast experience that too much conviction and concentration is dangerous.
Our primary objective is to expose Off Road partners to asset classes and returns to which most family offices and institutions are not privy. We believe such niche private assets can provide attractive returns without stock market volatility and high correlation to traditional asset classes. We are prepared to take intelligent calculated risks and adopt “out of the box thinking.” From years of experience we have learned that impressive returns can be generated by focusing on smaller niche assets that are difficult to source, diligence, and structure. We believe that illiquidity can be an alpha-generative asset which many in the investment world simply cannot exploit because of structural impediments and asset-liability matching hurdles.
Simply, we are “Off Road” investors that have unstinting conviction in the idea that through a vigorous search process we attempt to find uncommon mispriced assets with upside optionality by partnering with best-in-class and ethical operators, asset managers, and industry specialists.
Our Universe
Off Road’s investor-base includes some of substantial offices, investing institutions, and high-net-worth individuals. Our sophisticated and well-capitalized investor base affords us the ability to execute on “co-investment” opportunities of significant scale and of atypical nature.
Off Road may be a solution for niche businesses and asset classes in need of strategic and creative capital to permit growth.
Sourcing and Value Creation
Off Road’s founders have fifty years of collective experience and relationships that span the investment ecosystem.
These valued relationships form a holistic approach to sourcing and executing upon transactions.
Focus
Where We Typically Invest
- Investment Size: $5-40 million
- Agnostic to structure and instrument: debt, preferred equity, straight equity, contractual cash flow instruments, hybrid vehicles
- Investment Durations: 2-6 years
- Governance: Minority positions with high visibility into business process or control stakes with board representation if appropriate
- Areas of interest: credit / cash flow assets, industry niches, specialty finance/insurance, special situations, litigation claims
Off Road invests in uncommon risk-return profiles that have “visible returns,” or cash flow streams and stores of value that can be identified with probing research, an examination of history, and high-touch fact-finding.
Where We Typically Don’t Invest
- Traditional private equity
- Venture capital
- Macro themes
Off Road does not purport to be able to predict complex macro events and trends. Off Road is not a solution for institutions that must put billions of dollars to work in standard products.
Off Road’s founders understand that successful business relationships must be symbiotic; we strive to add value by helping to prepare companies, specialists, operators, and fund managers for their next phase of growth. After we invest we provide advice and support in capital allocation, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing, and other vital initiatives.
Advisory Board
David L. Cohen
Mr. Cohen, Co-President, Co-Chief Executive and Co-Chief Investment Officer, was a co-founder of Iridian Asset Management (“Iridian”) in 1996. Iridian manages $15.7 billion in mid cap equities and alternative strategies. Previously he worked seven years as a portfolio manager with Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, Inc., one year as a portfolio manager with Furman Selz Mager Dietz & Birney, and three years as a portfolio manager with W.R. Family Associates. In addition, from 1981 to 1985, he served as a research analyst with Central National Gottesman and Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb. Mr. Cohen holds a B.A. in Economics from Vassar College (1977), an MBA from New York University (1978), and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law (1981).
Nick Orum
Nick Orum co-founded private equity investment firm Gryphon Investors in 1995 and has served as its President since 2009. With over $2 billion of cumulative equity commitments, Gryphon has completed over 100 control acquisitions in the U.S. lower middle market since inception, and it is ranked among the “top 25 most consistent performers” of nearly 1500 North American buyout fund managers tracked by Private Equity International. Mr. Orum also serves as head of Gryphon’s Healthcare Group and previously served as head of its Business Services Group, and he has been responsible for leading or co-leading investments in fifteen Gryphon platform companies and leading or overseeing over thirty add-on acquisitions. Prior to 1995, Mr. Orum was a principal investor at Oak Hill Partners where he was responsible for sourcing, analyzing, executing, and monitoring private equity investments. Before joining Oak Hill, Mr. Orum was a member of Merrill Lynch’s High Yield Finance Group, where he was involved in financings for various leveraged acquisitions and corporate clients. Mr. Orum earned a B.A. with honors in Quantitative Economics from Stanford University.
