Jeffrey Tarrant
Jeffrey Tarrant is an American investor. He is the founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Protégé Partners, a firm specializing in and early stage investing in . He is also a founding partner of film production company .
Contents
Education
Tarrant received a BA in economics from the in 1978, and an MBA from in 1985.
Career
Early career
After graduating from Harvard Business School, Tarrant joined Berkeley Asset Management in Berkeley, California, as vice president, co-managing the , one of the first fund of hedge funds in the United States. He went on to manage assets for private family fortunes, including (film producer and founder of the ). For the family of Germany, he managed their marketable securities hedge fund portfolio and investments in the US, UK and Europe. InvestorForce purchased it in 2000, and it was made a division of investment research firm in 2006.
Protégé Partners
Tarrant served from 1998 to 2002 on the board of directors of The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF), an investment advisory firm for charitable foundations, and advised TIFF on building its first hedge fund of funds. Tarrant initially served as chief investment officer and chief executive officer, with Seides as president. Seides took over as co-CIO in 2011 until leaving the firm in 2015, at which point Tarrant resumed his role as sole CIO.
Tarrant is featured in ‘s 2009 nonfiction book , about ‘s use of credit default swaps to bet against the . Tarrant and Paulson were discussing issues with the housing market as far back as 2004. Tarrant was the lead investor in Paulson’s new fund, putting in $60 million on behalf of Protégé clients in 2006 (out of a total of $147 million Paulson would raise).
Buffett bet
In early 2008, bet Protégé Partners that over a 10-year period, the would outperform a portfolio of hedge funds.
Digital currency
Tarrant was one of the backers of the ‘s Bitcoin Developer Fund. It provides financial support for the three bitcoin developers working for the Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative, which was launched in 2015 to explore issues involved in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
Tarrant was an investor in early iterations of investing, including . Around 2016, he began focusing on machine learning and data science, exploring hedge funds built on concepts of artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing and digital currencies.
Documentary films
Tarrant is a founding partner in the production company , which was founded in 2010 to produce and finance documentary films exploring social issues. With Candescent, Tarrant has been an executive producer on films including Sons of the Clouds, narrated by , which premiered at the and won the for Best Documentary Film; , which won the U.S. Directing Award for Documentary; Who Is Dayani Cristal? starring , which premiered at the ; and Trophy, which premiered at the and was acquired by and . Tarrant and executive produced the 2010 documentary , about the life and career of paparazzi photographer . Directed by , it won the US Directing Award: Documentary at the and was later picked up by and .
Philanthropy
In 2002, Tarrant helped launch the London-based charity .<ref name=”staub”/> He is the vice chairman of its US affiliate, Friends of ARK.<ref name=”rcohen”/>
In 2011, Tarrant joined the board of , a nonprofit focused on human rights issues, founded by musician and the in 1992. In the fall of 2016, Tarrant and Gabriel launched WITNESS Innovation Initiatives, whose goal is to collaborate with technology companies, schools, developers and activists to create human rights documenting skills.<ref name=”staub”/>
Bibliography
- “Risikoreduzierung – Multi-Manager Portfolio – Nicht Traditioneller Investments” in Vermögensanlage mit ausgewogenem Risiko, Roger C. Gibson, editor, Germany: Verlag Moderne Industry, 1990.
- “Hedge Fund Investing: A Private Family Perspective” in Evaluating and Implementing Hedge Fund Strategies, Second Edition, Ronald A. Lake, editor, London: Euromoney Books, 1999.
- “The Life Cycle of Hedge Fund Managers” in Evaluating and Implementing Hedge Fund Strategies, Third Edition, Ronald A. Lake, editor, London: Euromoney Books, chapter 21, pp. 269-77, 2003.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Executive producer | Won Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, Audience Award: Documentary | |
| 2007 | Executive producer | ||
| 2010 | Executive producer | Won U.S. Directing Award: Documentary; nominated for 2011 for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming; nominated for 2011 for Documentary Producing | |
| 2012 | Co-executive producer | Won U.S. Directing Award: Documentary; nominated for for Documentary Directing | |
| Sons of the Clouds | Executive producer | Won for Best Documentary Film | |
| 2013 | Who Is Dayani Cristal? | Executive producer | Won Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary |
| Remote Area Medical | Executive producer | ||
| Likeness | Executive producer | Short film; nominated for 2014 for Drama: Long Form or Series | |
| 2017 | The Departure | Executive producer | |
| Fantasy Island | Executive producer | ||
| Trophy | Executive producer |