Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East
    • 2023 ESG Investing
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Obituary
July 05, 2018 01:00 AM

Richard Elden, founder of Grosvenor Capital Management, dies at 84

Christine Williamson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Richard Elden, founder Gorsvenor Capital Management

    Richard Elden, founder of Grosvenor Capital Management, died June 27 at the age of 84 from metastatic melanoma, confirmed his son, Thomas.

    Richard Elden, a lifelong Chicagoan, founded Grosvenor Capital in 1971 after a career as a journalist and as a securities analyst at investment bank A.G. Becker & Co.

    He is widely credited as creating the first U.S.-based hedge funds-of-funds firm. Forty-six years later, Chicago-based Grosvenor ranked fourth in assets managed worldwide in hedge funds of funds with $25.9 billion as of June 30, 2017, according to Pensions & Investments' most recent ranking of hedge funds-of-funds managers.

    Grosvenor managed a total of about $50 billion in commingled and customized hedge funds of funds as well as in private equity, real estate, infrastructure and multiasset strategies as of June 30.

    "My father spawned an entire industry. It started as a cottage industry and has become enormous," Thomas Elden said in an interview, noting the fund-of-funds concept expanded to encompass private equity, venture capital, multiasset and outsourced-chief-investment-officer approaches.

    "When my dad started, most clients were high-net-worth individuals. There was no precedent for institutional investors to outsource investment manager selection with a second layer of fees. In the 1970s, a major endowment wouldn't have considered outsourcing its investments," Thomas Elden said.

    The turning point for institutional investment in Grosvenor — and other firms' — hedge funds of funds came via a joint venture in the mid-1990s with Morgan Stanley Investment Management to attract Japanese institutions. The success of that effort, he said, "transformed the hedge fund-of-funds business from a high-net-worth focus into an institutional business."

    Thomas Elden, formerly a GCM partner, now is founder and CEO of Origami Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity manager with about $500 million under management.

    Richard Elden retired from Grosvenor in 2005.

    "Dick was a true pioneer and visionary. He anticipated the growth and evolution of the alternative investment universe earlier and more clearly than most," said Michael Sacks, GCM's CEO and Richard Elden's immediate successor, in a June 28 memo to the firm's employees obtained by P&I.

    Mr. Sacks said Mr. Elden's career as a journalist, "with a healthy amount of skepticism, a love for digging deep and separating wheat from chaff and a strong desire to 'get the story,'" was great training for a career in money management.

    Richard Elden was one of the first practitioners of detailed manager due diligence in the hedge funds-of-funds industry, "seeking ever better and more information to reduce the risk of investments," Mr. Sacks stressed.

    The senior Mr. Elden "loved investing" and "especially loved discovering and cultivating great investors and great investments. He was among the earliest investors with and sponsors of some of the legends of alternative investing. Early support and sponsorship from Dick Elden helped to accelerate many careers," Mr. Sacks wrote.

    Thomas Elden said his father was relentless when it came to persuading excellent hedge fund managers to open their closed funds to Grosvenor for investment.

    "The word `no' always energized my father," Thomas Elden said.

    In accordance with his father's wishes, a memorial service is not planned, Thomas Elden said.

    In addition to his son, Richard Elden is survived by his wife, Gail; daughter, Cynthia; daughter-in law Christina Ochs; and sister, Joan Feitler and her husband, Robert.

    The family's suggestion for charities for memorial contributions are the Usher III Initiative, the Melanoma Research Alliance, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center Melanoma Program of Northwestern University and Columbia University School of Journalism Knight-Bagehot Fellowship.

    Related Articles
    Grosvenor appoints director to expand emerging, diverse manager platform
    Grosvenor brings on managing director for labor impact infrastructure business
    Grosvenor recruits managing director for labor impact infrastructure team
    Recommended for You
    South Texas Money Management founder and chairwoman Jeanie Wyatt dies
    South Texas Money Management founder and chairwoman Jeanie Wyatt dies
    Federated Investors co-founder Richard B. Fisher dies at 95
    Federated Investors co-founder Richard B. Fisher dies at 95
    Stephen Wood, Russell chief market strategist, dies
    Stephen Wood, Russell chief market strategist, dies
    The Institutional Investor's Guide to ESG Investing
    Sponsored Content: The Institutional Investor's Guide to ESG Investing

    Reader Poll

    January 25, 2023
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Show Me the Income: Discovering plan sponsor and participant preferences for cr…
    The Future of Infrastructure: Building a Better Tomorrow
    Outlook 2023: Opportunity in a volatile world
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    December 12, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East
      • 2023 ESG Investing