Masters in Business · Wednesday, August 5, 2026
Mike Kelly discussed his transition to FrontPoint Partners, where he helped institutionalize the hedge fund business. He explained the thesis was to create an institutional-quality asset management firm with diversified strategies to cater to institutional clients who were increasingly embracing alternatives. Kelly, initially hired to select investment teams, eventually became co-CEO, reflecting on the shift from wanting to be a star investor to building asset management companies.
“A lot of hedge funds were frankly run as almost like family offices as a business. Way, right, and most of the investment capital came from ultra high net worth family offices like Memphis, Mafia and others. And so there was a view that institutions would begin to embrace alternative strategies, and for them to embrace alternative strategies, the firms they would allocate capital to would need to look like the institutional asset managers they were used to like in the traditional mutual fund business.”
“And so we had a view that by forming a real institutional quality asset management firm that would house diversified strategies and managers who could provide absolute return strategies to these institutional clients, that that would be embraced.”
“And I thought, you know, building an asset management company like this, like I'm doing with my partner's at front Point. You know, I'm a young guy, my whole career ahead of me, and I thought, you know, actually, if I spent my career building asset management companies and managing them, that could be a pretty you know, robust career. I could really enjoy myself.”