Firms & Funds

Jordan FO divests from hedge funds, ramps focus on PE

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Jay Jordan, The Jordan Company
John “Jay” Jordan II, Chairman and Founding Partner, The Jordan Company. Photo from Jordan Company website.
  • Why this is important: Jordan family office has moved away from its previous focus on hedge funds into more familiar PE territory

John “Jay” Jordan’s family office has changed its strategy to focus on private equity, venture and real estate.

Chief Investment Officer Clay Drury is also leaving the family office, multiple sources confirmed.

Jordan founded the middle-market PE firm Jordan Co in 1982. The PE firm buys and invests in middle-market companies with enterprise values between $100 million and $2 billion across a range of industries. Some of the investments include Haas, Harrington and Milestone.

Jordan also runs a separate fund-management business, Jordan/Zalanick Advisers, and Jordan Family Sports Foundation.

The family office has increased allocation to private equity, one of the sources said. It invests in PE funds and makes direct investments in lower middle-market companies.

It has also built up a portfolio of venture capital investments, the source said.

The Jordan family office has a healthy real estate portfolio that it intends to continue with, the source said.

The Chicago-based Jordan family office divested completely from its hedge-fund allocation because it proved an unprofitable strategy, the source said. When the family office decided to divest from hedge funds is unclear.

It has been a drastic change for the family office, which invested directly in hedge funds.

“We think we can pick managers better ourselves. And we don’t want some of the exposures or names in some of the fund-of-funds portfolios,” Drury said in an interview to CampdenFB in September 2010.

Jordan family office has also divested from its stock, derivatives and options portfolios, the source said. It is ramping up its cash holdings to be prepared for what it sees as a coming correction.

“The additional liquidity will help the family office grab great buying opportunities once the valuations begin to fall,” the source said.

Rhett Madison, a managing director with JZ Advisers, is listed as CIO of the Jordan family office. Yann Coquoz, who joined the family office in 2012 as an investment analyst, was named co-CIO in May.

Action Item: Read more on the Jordan family office in our Family Office Database