Overview

Christopher Smith

Team Highlights

Mr. Smith applies the same approach to idea generation and fundamental company analysis that he has honed throughout his career.

  • The process blends a collaborative team mentality with individual accountability driven by continuous improvement. 
  • In addition to his analysts, Mr. Smith is supported by a dedicated risk manager and trader whom he has worked with for nearly 20 years.        
  • The investment team’s primary location is in Denver with an office also in New York.  

Investment Process

The team’s investment approach is based on idea generation, a systematic framework for analyzing companies and proactive risk management. Utilizing this approach, the team seeks to construct a focused portfolio designed to maximize alpha while limiting downside risk over the long term.

Idea Generation

The team believes a key element in alpha generation is finding areas where the team’s views on industry fundamentals differ from consensus estimates. In this pursuit, the team seeks to identify inflections in multi-year trends which may be caused by changes in supply/demand dynamics, societal behavior, market conditions, technology, laws/regulations and business models, among other variables. The team believes these inflections are often misunderstood by market participants, and can lead to powerful re-ratings of industries and companies. Identifying themes helps us develop a focused universe of companies to analyze more thoroughly.

Systematic Analytical Framework

The team applies a systematic framework for analyzing companies across sectors and themes, creating a repeatable and methodical decision-making process. The team’s proprietary company models focus on multi-year earnings power differentiation, expected outcome scenario analysis, return on invested capital and discounted cash flow valuations. Visual outputs are then produced through the firm's internally developed technology solutions, allowing the team to consistently evaluate positions across the portfolio.

Proactive Risk Management

The team incorporates risk management into all stages of its investment process. Metrics evaluated include crowding, correlation, volatility, stress tests, liquidity, factor analysis and macro drivers, all of which inform portfolio construction and position sizing. The team also uses various instruments, such as options, in an effort to magnify alpha and minimize downside.

Management
  • Christopher Smith
  • Portfolio Manager
  • Focus Fund
  • 21Years Investment
    Experience

Christopher Smith is a managing director of Artisan Partners and founding portfolio manager of the Antero Peak Group. In this role, he is the portfolio manager for the Antero Peak Strategy, including Artisan Focus Fund.

Prior to joining Artisan Partners and founding the Antero Peak Group in October 2016, Mr. Smith was a senior analyst at Kingdon Capital Management where he managed capital directly for Mark Kingdon. Mr. Smith spent the majority of his career at Karsch Capital Management where he was a managing director and a senior analyst covering the consumer, media and industrial sectors. Upon Karsch Capital closing in August 2013, Mr. Smith was selected by Michael Karsch to create and exclusively manage Centerline Investment Partners, a long-only fund with more than $100 million in assets, which he then merged into Kingdon Capital with the client’s approval. Mr. Smith has also worked at Soros Fund Management, as well as UBS and Credit Suisse in equity research. He holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (summa cum laude).