Jeffrey Marc Talpins is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of New York-based hedge fund, Element Capital Management. He is a “macro” trader who uses options to try to capture the upside of — and limit potential losses from — strategies aimed at anticipating global economic shifts.The Wall Street Journal referred to Talpins as “the hedge fund king you’ve never heard of” and “the hottest investor on Wall Street." Talpins founded the fund in 2005 at Proxima Alfa Investments USA LLC as Element Capital Group and then spun out into an independent firm in 2007. Element is one of the world’s largest hedge funds dedicated to macro investing with approximately $17.5 billion in assets under management and a 21% annualized return since inception, as of August 2018. By December 2018, the firm was described as a "heavyweight," managing $18.2 billion."
Talpins launched Element Capital in 2005 with $250 million. He held a position in the Mortgage Backed Securities Department at Goldman Sachs, and later worked at Citigroup's Fixed Income Options as the Head Trader, credited with expanding this business.
Industry achievements
Element Capital has been one of the best performing hedge funds of the past decade, having appeared on Barron’s Top 100Hedge Funds list eight of the last ten years. From late 2017 through early 2018, the firm made over $3 billion in profits betting that the passage of tax reform would lift global asset prices. In August 2018, the fund raised an additional $3 billion mostly from existing investors and closed to new capital.
Philanthropy
Talpins is a member of the Board of Trustees of Harlem Children’s Zone, which helps disadvantaged children and families living in Harlem. He also sits on the board of the American Prairie Reserve, which is dedicated to creating the largest nature reserve in the continental United States. In 2018 Talpins endowed a leadership post at Yale to help the university advance domestic policy research. “With our country facing so many critical long-term challenges, I believe the Tobin Center will put Yale’s research efforts right at the center of the public policy debate, leading to better outcomes for our society,” he said. Talpin supports Jewish organizations including the Larchmont Temple, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York, and the Atalef Foundation, the official association of the Israeli Naval Commandos Unit.
