Wynnefield Capital

Last updated
Wynnefield Capital, Inc.
Industry Hedge funds
Founded1992
Founder Nelson Obus, Joshua Landes
Headquarters New York, NY
Website wynnecap.com

Wynnefield Capital, Inc., is an employee-owned hedge fund founded in 1992 by Nelson Obus and Joshua Landes. The fund is a value investor, specializing in U.S. small-cap companies with a business- or industry-specific catalyst. It employs long and short strategies and conducts in-house research in making its investments. [1] [2] The fund has been an activist investor [3] with a number of companies, including Cornell Companies, [4] Crown Crafts, [5] Breeze-Eastern, [6] MAM Software, [7] Chiquita Brands, [8] and Omega Protein. [9]

Contents

Wynnefield Capital is based in New York City and is named after Nelson Obus’ and Landes’ childhood neighborhood of Wynnefield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [3]

In May 2014, after a 12-year battle, Nelson Obus and a Wynnefield analyst were exonerated of all insider trading accusations made by the SEC in a trial by jury. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Nelson Obus has been an outspoken critic of the SEC [15] and penned an op-ed on regulatory overreach for The Wall Street Journal . [16]

Founders: Nelson Obus and Joshua Landes

Prior to founding Wynnefield, Nelson Obus and Joshua Landes both held senior research equity positions at Lazard Feres & Co. [2] Nelson Obus currently serves on the board of directors for Zionist Organization of America, [17] Layne Christensen Co., [18] MK Acquisition LLC, and the Princeton Historical Society. [19] Obus also serves on the board of advisors of the Bank of Princeton, [20] the Appalachian Mountain Club, [21] and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. [22] He previously served on the Boards of Directors of Breeze-Eastern Corporation and Underground Solutions, Inc. [2]

Landes is a member of the Board of Trustees of S.A.R. Academy in Riverdale, New York; [23] Board of Directors of Ken's Krew [24] and the Zionist Organization of America, [17] and the Vice President of the American Jewish Historical Society. [25] Landes led the financing efforts for the creation of a statue commemorating Uriah P. Levy, the first Jewish admiral to serve in the U.S. Navy. [26]

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References

  1. ↑ "Company Overview of Wynnefield Capital, Inc.," Bloomberg News , retrieved December 9, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Welcome to Wynnefield Capital," WynnefieldCapital.com, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Susanne Craig, "The Curious Case of Nelson Obus," The New York Times , June 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ Lon Juricic, "Wynnefield: Cornell Companies Should Remain Independent Entity," Seeking Alpha, January 24, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Crown Crafts, Wynnefield wage proxy fight by proxy," HomeAndTextilesToday.com, August 3, 2007.
  6. ↑ Ted Wallace, "Activist Spotlight: Wynnefield Small Cap Value Fund," The Official Activist Investing Blog, October 28, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Nelson Obus and Wynnefield Capital’s Latest Insider Filing," Business Insider , June 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ Chelsey Dulaney, "Glass Lewis Recommends Chiquita Holders Vote Down Fyffes Merger," The Wall Street Journal , October 21, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Omega Protein Receives Letter from Shareholder," OmegaProtein.com, August 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ Rachel Abrams, "After Fighting Insider Trading Charges for 10 Years, a Fund Manager Is Cleared," The New York Times , May 30, 2014.
  11. ↑ Nate Raymond, "UPDATE 2-SEC loses insider trading case against NY fund manager," Reuters , May 30, 2014.
  12. ↑ Silverstein, Ed (June 4, 2014). "The SEC cannot win every case" . Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  13. ↑ Voris, Bob Van. "Wynnefield's Nelson Obus Called Innocent or 'Lamest Insider'". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  14. ↑ "SEC loses insider trading case against New York fund manager Nelson Obus". Reuters. 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  15. ↑ Rachel Abrams, "12 Years Later, a Fund Manager Gets to Give His Side," The New York Times , May 27, 2014.
  16. ↑ Nelson Obus, "Refusing to Buckle to SEC Intimidation," The Wall Street Journal , June 24, 2014.
  17. 1 2 "The Dangers of a Palestinian State," ZOA.org, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Board of Directors," Layne.com, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  19. ↑ "2015 Board of Trustees," PrincetonHistory.org, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  20. ↑ "About Us," TheBankofPrinceton.com, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  21. ↑ "General Partners," WynnefieldCapital.com, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Board of Trustees," TheWaterShed.org, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  23. ↑ "2015 Annual Report," p.28, SARacademy.org, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Board of Directors," KensKrew.org, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Officers," AJHS.org, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Dedication Ceremony of Commodore Uriah P. Levy Statue Co-Sponsored by JINSA," JINSA.org, December 30, 2011.
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