A. Description of Advisory Firm
The Adviser is an investment advisory firm established in October 2012 and organized as a
limited liability company under the laws of the State of Delaware. The Principals and sole
equity owners of the Adviser are Kevin Baer, Christopher Yanney and John Baer (the
“Principals). The Principal office of the Adviser is in New York, NY and our two satellite
offices are in West Conshohocken, PA and Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
The Adviser provides investment advisory services on a discretionary basis to its “Clients”
which include
Private funds (the “Funds”) for sophisticated and qualified investors (each, an
“Investor”, and together, the “Investors”).
Separately managed accounts & Pooled Investment Vehicle (PV) (the “Accounts”)
The private funds to which the Adviser currently provides discretionary advisory services
currently includes CKC Strategic Advantage Master Fund, Ltd., CKC Strategic Advantage
Fund Ltd and CKC Strategic Advantage Fund LP (together, the “Strategic Funds”), and CKC
Credit Opportunity Master Fund, Ltd., CKC Credit Opportunity Offshore Fund, Ltd., and CKC
Credit Opportunity Fund LP, (, the “Opportunity Funds”, and together with the Strategic Funds,
the “CKC Funds”), and to Rosedale Capital, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, (the
“Rosedale Fund”, and together with the CKC Funds, the “Funds”).
In addition to managing the CKC Funds, the adviser also manages separately managed accounts and
PV’ (each an “Account” and collectively the “Accounts.” Accounts are managed separately in
accordance with their characteristics. The Accounts are subject to investment objectives, guidelines
and restrictions. The “Accounts” may or may not incorporate the same investment strategy as the
“Funds.”
The Adviser’s investment objective and strategy for the CKC Funds is to achieve superior
returns through income and capital appreciation, while seeking to limit downside and volatility,
through investments in high yield, distressed and investment grade bond markets while also
seeking to capitalize on cross-market opportunities in equities and options both domestically
and globally. The Adviser plans to use its expertise in fundamental credit analysis and extensive
networks on both the buy and sell sides to attempt to produce results. Further, the Adviser
intends to capitalize on its knowledge of credit market liquidity and by seeking to exploit
inefficiencies in the corporate bond markets using a credit-based approach to equities and
highly disciplined risk management. The Adviser expects to routinely employ concentrated
positions and significant levels of leverage with respect to the Strategic Funds. The Strategic
Funds are managed with a typical level of three times.
With respect to the Rosedale Fund, the Adviser seeks to maximize absolute returns by primarily
making concentrated investments in securities on both the long and
short sides. The Adviser
seeks to achieve this objective primarily by purchasing securities which it views as being priced
materially below their fundamental value and conversely selling short securities which it views
as being priced materially above their fundamental value. The Adviser pursues this strategy
using five essential components: (1) a fundamental value investment philosophy; (2) deep
market intelligence; (3) nimble and timely action; (4) concentrated investment positions; and
(5) an overall perspective of the state of the markets and economy.
Please see Item 8 (Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss) for more
information.
B. Types of Advisory Services Offered
The Adviser’s investment advisory services to its Clients primarily consist of a) the
management, operation and control of the investment and trading activity of its Clients and b)
monitoring activity to ensure that the Adviser is managing each Client’s portfolio in accordance
with its stated investment objectives. The Adviser, on behalf of its Clients, sources investment
opportunities through a screening and identification process, conducts technical and
fundamental analysis on prospective investments, assesses the prospective investment effect
on the overall portfolio risk profile, monitors portfolio performance, evaluates the impact of
new information on existing positions, reviews new information and determines possible
catalysts for revaluation of investments.
C. Services Tailored to Individual Needs of Clients
While the Adviser principally implements the strategies noted above on behalf of the Funds,
the Adviser may, from time to time, make opportunistic use of different strategies and may
make investments regardless of security type or the size of its capitalization. However, all
advisory services the Adviser provides to a Clients will be tailored to the specific investment
objective, strategy, policies and guidelines set forth in the Client’s offering materials and
governing documentation.
All discussion of the Funds in this Brochure, including but not limited to their
investments, the strategies used in managing the Funds, and conflicts of interest faced by
the Adviser in connection with the management of the Funds are qualified in their
entirety by reference to each Fund’s respective offering documents.
D. Wrap Fee Programs
The Adviser does not participate in wrap fee programs.
E. Client Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, the Adviser has approximately $634,178,000 under discretionary
management. This number represents the Adviser’s assets under management and differs from
the methodology used on the Form ADV Part 1 which requires the calculation of the Adviser’s
regulatory assets under management. The Adviser does not currently manage any non-
discretionary assets.