Curtis Macnguyen W’90, a Hedge Fund Manager

Curtis Macnguyen W’90 operates a $3.5 billion hedge fund from Southern California. He often wonders what his life would have been like had he not left Saigon on April 30, 1975 to sail away on an escape boat.

Investment managers frequently utilize asset allocation formulas that take your age, income and risk tolerance into account in order to create the “right” mix for you. But Macnguyen provides more common-sense advice.

Early Life and Education

Curtis Macnguyen had to work hard in order to gain the respect of his older brothers; at the same time he also played hard – on both his school’s tennis team and intramural leagues; even receiving a scholarship offer to attend college.

He and his family had fled South Vietnam before the Tet Offensive began, in an arduous journey that involved getting on a packed boat with all of their belongings, trading with pirate ships, and eventually arriving in the Philippines where he worked picking mung bean plants while his parents sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door.

Macnguyen graduated with honors from Wharton, joining Gleacher & Company – an investment bank which assisted Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with its record-setting acquisition of RJR Nabisco – before setting up his own fund, Ivory Investment Management (now worth billions).

Professional Career

Macnguyen, co-founder of Los Angeles-based Ivory Investment Management, still vividly remembers April 30th 1975 – the day Saigon fell and he and his family fled Vietnam en masse – when his father and an uncle organized ships to assist in saving hundreds of people’s lives from certain imprisonment. He was only seven at that time.

Curtis Macnguyen was encouraged by his older brother Hunt Macnguyen WG’80 to forge his own path in business. Curtis took this advice heartily, enrolling at Penn’s engineering school initially before changing over to Wharton on Hunt’s advice after his first year and taking a job with Gleacher & Company.

After leaving his previous fundamental value-based long/short equity investment firm, CM Advisors Incorporated, he founded his own firm which later disbanded. Later still he joined Siegler Collery & Company where he later became partner and oversaw numerous investments as part of their portfolio management practice.

Personal Life

Macnguyen’s parents were determined to provide their family with the best life possible, even if that meant leaving their homeland of Vietnam. After managing to get onto a packed boat, enduring rough waters for an entire week before bartering with pirate ships as bullets flew overhead – they eventually reached Guam via the Philippines as stops along their journey.

They eventually settled in America, where they now occupy an 11,000-square-foot mansion surrounded by lush gardens in Pacific Palisades. When not living there full time, the family often visits Hawaii’s Big Island which also houses their luxurious property.

Macnguyen’s firm, Ivory Investment Management, manages $3.5 billion through fundamental value funds. His investment philosophy involves purchasing stocks trading below their intrinsic values while shorting those trading too expensively; since 1998 his strategy has delivered an 11.8% return before fees – outperforming even the S&P 500 index!

Net Worth

Macnguyen co-founded Ivory Investment Management LP in Los Angeles and now oversees assets totalling $3.5 billion under management with this hedge fund firm. His net worth can only increase with his fortune.

Macnguyen can still vividly recall April 30, 1975 — the day Saigon fell and he and his family fled Vietnam for America in an evacuation boat. Often he thinks back and ponders what life might have been like had they not left Vietnam on that boat trip.

But he knows his fortune is immense: He owns an elegant Pacific Palisades mansion once belonging to NBA player DeAndre Jordan; this “modern traditional” home features over 10,000 square feet and every luxury amenity imaginable; plus an oceanfront property on Hawaii’s Big Island.