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Wynnefield Capital

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wynnefield Capital, Inc.
IndustryHedge funds
Founded1992
FounderNelson Obus, Joshua Landes
HeadquartersNew York, NY
Websitewynnecap.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]

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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ "Company Overview of Wynnefield Capital, Inc.," Bloomberg News, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Welcome to Wynnefield Capital," WynnefieldCapital.com, retrieved December 9, 2015.
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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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