Alternative Investment Awards 2017

48 Wealth & Finance International - Alternative Investment Awards 2017 Management Company: Pluscios Management Contact: Kelly Chesney Email: [email protected] Address: 1603 Orrington Ave. Ste 750, Evanston, Il 60201, USA Phone: 12244207044 AI170052 Pluscios Pluscios is an innovative fund manager based in Illinois. We spoke to Kelly Chesney to learn more. Pluscios invests in interesting opportunities, generally through hedge funds, on behalf of its clients, who include co-mingled funds, institu- tional investors, closed-end funds, as well as HNW and Family Offices. For the X2 Opportunistic Debt Fund, the firm partnered with X-Square Capital, a registered investment advisor out of Puerto Rico. The X-Square team spent has spent most of their careers focused on Puerto Rican debt, which afforded them many exciting opportunities, as Kelly explains. “At Pluscios, we are constantly on the look-out for interesting invest- ment opportunities, be it off the radar niche opportunities or front page complex opportunities. The Puerto Rico bond crisis is clearly the latter and while it presents a great return opportunity, it also comes with significant risk due to the complexity. When pursuing this type of op- portunity we have traditionally looked for two things beyond basic skill: the first is edge, the second is a differentiated approach. The X-Square team has both.” By taking an innovative approach to investment the firm is able to reduce its risk and ensure strong returns for investors, as Kelly is eager to highlight. “With an event like the Puerto Rico debt crisis there is bound to be volatility, although X-Square’s strategy attempts to minimize it where possible. Nonetheless, volatility is expected so we focus on managing the risks. That is what led us to partner with X-Square on this product. They had a Puerto Rico based product but it was not available to non-PR residents. After discussing the establishment of a Delaware LLC, we agreed that Pluscios would manage the infrastructure and administration and X-Square would be the investment advisor to the fund. This provided the fund with an institutional infrastructure and allows X-Square to focus on its strength – investing and managing the investment risks.” Looking ahead, Kelly believes that there are many exciting opportunities on the horizon for the firm as it looks to build upon the success of this innovative fund. “For Pluscios, the future looks bright as we remain focused on finding great investment opportunities and great managers. We remain focused on helping clients build resilient portfolios, whether that is through a co-mingled fund or otherwise. For X-Square, the X2 Opportunistic Debt Fund is an opportunity to create a track record and build relationships with investors in the US beyond Puerto Rico that they can leverage in the future.” Best US Distressed Securities Fund (Since Inception): X2 Opportunistic Debt Fund, LLC