The School of RenTech: Lessons in Prospect Research from the World's Most Elusive Hedge Fund

Renaissance Technologies of East Setauket, New York is arguably the most successful hedge fund in history. Commonly known as RenTech, the firm is legendary for both minting ultra-high-net-worth individuals and for maintaining a level of secrecy that draws frequent comparisons to the CIA and NSA. Given this background, RenTech has a long history of both fascinating and frustrating prospect development professionals. This presentation describes the approach that one team took to deepen its understanding of RenTech and also develop capacity estimates for RenTech-affiliated individuals commensurate with the firm's history of success. While developed and used successfully in the RenTech context, this approach is multipronged, flexible, and applicable to research cases far beyond the specifics of this one firm. As such, presentation attendees will learn an array of techniques and tips that can be exceptionally helpful when conducting research into topics about which the public record has little to say. Special emphasis will be placed on sharing techniques for formulating capacity estimates in situations where traditional indicators like real estate and public giving history dramatically downplay a prospect's likely net worth.

This webinar is worth (1) CFRE point.