Board of Directors
Stephen A. Sinacore
Mr. Sinacore was a co-founder of Atrevida Partners, LLC and a Managing Member. Prior to co-founding Atrevida in 2007, he completed a two-year assignment with Citadel Investment Group, a Chicago-based hedge fund. Joining Citadel as Treasurer, Mr. Sinacore was responsible for the management of the firm's balance sheet, including addressing overall funding needs and the allocation of capital. During his last six months at Citadel, Mr. Sinacore filled the role of interim portfolio manager for the global energy portfolio.
Mr. Sinacore was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Capital Markets Inc. (“ZCM”) before his stint at Citadel. At that time, ZCM was a financial services firm specializing in structured alternative asset products and fund of hedge funds management. During Mr. Sinacore's tenure, ZCM managed approximately $3.5 billion in hedge fund assets through its fund of hedge funds. While at ZCM, Mr. Sinacore successfully led the sale of ZCM to BNP Paribas.
Mr. Sinacore had relocated to London, England to join RBS Greenwich Capital before that. While at RBS, Mr. Sinacore's responsibilities included management of the firm's global Derivatives, as well as the firm's Fixed Income and Credit Trading, divisions in Europe and Asia. Additionally, Mr. Sinacore chaired the firm's Capital Commitment Committee.
Mr. Sinacore also spent 12 years at JP Morgan & Co., Inc.. While at JP Morgan, Mr. Sinacore held various roles in both New York and London where he was a founding member of JP Morgan's global Derivative Sales and Trading group. Mr. Sinacore’s responsibilities at JP Morgan included management of the firm’s Fixed Income, Equity, Foreign Exchange and Commodities divisions. Mr. Sinacore began his career at J. Aron & Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs & Co., where Mr. Sinacore worked as a precious metals trader.
Mr. Sinacore received a Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University's College of Business Administration in 1980.
Arthur B. Laffer
Dr. Laffer is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an economic research and consulting firm that provides global investment research services to banks, fund managers and corporations. Since it started in 1979, the firm’s research has focused on the interconnecting macroeconomic, political and demographic changes affecting global financial markets. Dr. Laffer is well known for having introduced to public policy debates the “Laffer curve” on income tax elasticities.
Dr. Laffer serves on the boards of several public companies, including: CLARCOR, MPS Group and Oxigene, and also on private company boards, including: Nicholas Applegate Institutional Funds, Retirement Capital Group, Roth Capital, First Q Capital and The Mayfair Group. He is a founding member of the Congressional Policy Advisory Board, which helps shape legislative policies for the United States Congress. Dr. Laffer was also from 1981 to 1989 a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, and from 1972 to 1977 a consultant to William Simon and George Shultz, as Secretaries of the Treasury, and Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. He was the first Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Mr. Shultz from 1970 to 1972.
He was formerly the Distinguished University Professor at Pepperdine University, Charles B. Thornton Professor of Business Economics at the University of Southern California from 1976 to 1984, and Associate Professor of Business Economics at the University of Chicago from 1970 to 1976.
Dr. Laffer received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University in 1963. He received an MBA and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1972 respectively.
Hans H. C. van Hoof
Mr. van Hoof has held senior positions in European financial institutions for almost 20 years. During this time, he has been: Senior Portfolio Manager with PVF Pension Funds in Amsterdam, responsible for $2.5 billion of European equity funds; Senior Risk Manager and Deputy Head of global equity derivatives with Paribas Capital Markets in London; Managing Director with Bankers Trust in London, responsible for M&A arbitrage, derivatives arbitrage and venture capital investments. Following this he was appointed CEO and Chairman of Soros Funds Ltd.
He then founded and was Managing Partner of VHC Partners LLP/ VHC International Ltd., an investment management group, based in Jersey which ultimately managed some $850 million of funds. In 2006, Mr. van Hoof withdrew from operational involvement with VHC and has since been involved in various company directorships and projects including charitable and private equity investments.