Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry Jack Sommers – Core Fixed Income at IR+M (Manager Meetings, EP.39)
Oct 20, 2022
In this engaging discussion, Jack Sommers, Co-founder and Executive Chair at Income Research and Management, shares insights from his journey in the investment world, growing a firm from the ground up alongside his father. Joined by Tim McCusker, CIO at NEPC, they explore the evolution of active fixed income investing and the crucial role of company culture in shaping success. They also emphasize the importance of diversity and adaptability in the changing financial landscape, along with personal principles that extend beyond finance.
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Founding of IR&M
- Jack Sommers' father invited him for a beer and proposed starting a firm together.
- Jack accepted, seeing it as a low-risk summer job, despite the challenges his father faced.
Early struggles of IR&M
- IR&M initially struggled to gain clients, relying on two former clients for seed funding.
- For the next five years, acquiring clients remained a challenge.
IR&M's Core Mission
- IR&M's core mission remains consistent: bottom-up bond picking, avoiding macro bets.
- They aim to help clients outperform benchmarks through this disciplined approach.