About Us

We specialize in optimizing incentives payable on institutional investments in private investment funds such as hedge funds, private long-only funds, and private equity funds. Our team of investment fund, compensation, tax and technology experts provide comprehensive advisory, design, implementation and administration services.

Institutional Investors are long-term, tax-exempt Investors. For them, optimal incentives align the Investment Manager with the Investor’s “life-of-investment,” tax-exempt interests. Such incentives divide terminal pre-tax profits, not interim profits that the Investment Manager “banks” and pays taxes on each year.

Long-term alignment significantly improves Investors’ returns in up years and down years (“Alignment Alpha™”). Investment Advisers that provide Alignment Alpha™ attract institutional capital and enhance their long-term sustainability.

Our Management Team
Our Management Team

Rick Ehrhart, JD, President & CEO, Optcompany -- Mr. Ehrhart co-founded the Company in 1998, and is responsible for the management and performance of the Company. He provides leadership for product innovation, directs advanced sales support, and serves as Chief Supervisory Officer of Optsecurities, LLC. Before founding the Company, Mr. Ehrhart was a consultant for a national firm that specializes in incentive compensation. From 1980 to 1992, he practiced law as a tax and benefits attorney. He received a BA in Economics with honors from Davidson College. He then graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law where he was a member of the North Carolina Law Review. Mr. Ehrhart is currently a member of the Business Law and Tax Law Sections of the American Bar Association. A frequent speaker at compensation seminars, he participated as lecturer and author at the Employee Benefits Symposium sponsored by the John Marshall School of Law. His article, “Section 409A – Treasury ‘Newspeak’ Lost in the ‘Briar Patch’,” was published in the Fall 2005 edition of the John Marshall Law Review. In March, 2010 Pension and Investments Online published his article “Closing the pension funding gap: A tweak to hedge fund incentive compensation achieves true alignment and enhances returns without any alpha improvement.”

Thom Young, MBA, President -- Mr. Young joined the Company in 2006 and is responsible for sales and marketing. Prior to joining the Company, he co-founded and managed Cambium Capital Management, a hedge fund that applied a conservative Jones model consisting of US equity long/short positions. Cambium was launched as a low volatility fund targeting large institutional investors. It attracted an experienced staff, built a scalable infrastructure and developed proprietary risk analytics. Assets peaked at $175 million. Redemptions caused Mr. Young and his co-founder to elect to close Cambium on April 28th, 2006. Before Cambium, Mr. Young worked as a Managing Director of Deutsche Bank in New York and Atlanta. He is also founder and President of the DAM Club, a social club for male Davidson College alumni. Mr. Young earned his MBA from the University of Virginia and his undergraduate degree from Davidson College.

Jim Christian, MBA, Managing Partner -- Mr. Christian joined the Company in 2006 and is responsible for sales and marketing of the Company’s sister company, Optcomp, LLC. Prior to joining the Company, he was vice president of business development with U.S. Trust Company. From 1999 to 2004, he served as managing director and president of Aspen Strategic Alliance LLC, which included QED CapitalWorks LLC, an equity market neutral hedge fund, and Aspen Partners, Ltd. Mr. Christian helped grow the firm’s assets to over $450 million across several alternative strategies and had direct responsibility for daily operations, including marketing, client services, and management of the Aspen regional marketing representatives. Prior to joining Aspen Partners, Mr. Christian was vice president of business development for American Coating Technologies from 1997-1999. Mr. Christian also has Fortune 500 experience as a top salesperson with American Home Products. Mr. Christian earned his MBA in International Finance from the University of South Carolina in 1996, and his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Clemson University in 1993.

Claire Joseph, Chief Administrative Officer -- Ms. Joseph joined the Company in 2002. She is responsible for quality assurance, compliance and day-to-day Company administration, including personnel administration. Ms. Joseph has worked in banking and client support for more than 20 years, most recently as Manager of Commercial Systems Support with First Union Corporation (now Wells Fargo Corporation). Ms. Joseph studied at the University of Strasbourg, France, and graduated magna cum laude from The Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Secondary Education. In addition to completing post-graduate work in English and Technical Writing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Ms. Joseph holds her Series 7, 63 and 24 securities licenses.

Mary Cameron, Chief Client Services Officer -- Ms. Cameron joined the Company in 2004. She is responsible for managing the client support group whose functions include transaction execution, fund research, and report preparation. She is also responsible for business analyst and compliance functions as well as plan conversions and implementations. Ms. Cameron brings to the Client Services Group a varied background in education and healthcare as well as more than 15 years of experience in the securities industry to include an Administrative Associate position with Merrill Lynch. Ms. Cameron graduated from Wilson College.

Steven White, MBA, Chief Information Officer -- Mr. White joined the Company in 2008. He is responsible for managing the Technology Services Group (TSG). Prior to joining the Company, he was a Director of Information Technology with Hanesbrands, Inc. and a Vice President of Information Technology with Sara Lee Corporation. Mr. White has also held significant leadership and project management roles with Accenture and Empower Solutions. He has a BA from Davidson College and MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

John Matthews, CPA, MPA, Chief Financial Officer -- Mr. Matthews joined the Company in June 2010. He is responsible for the financial operations of the Company and also serves as the Financial Operations Principal (FINOP) for Optsecurities, LLC. Before joining the Company, he served as CFO of several hedge fund investment advisers. Before that, Mr. Matthews worked in Chicago and Los Angeles as a Senior Accountant with KPMG L.L.P. He received his BS in Accounting from Michigan State University and his Masters of Public Accounting from Clemson University.