Franklin Square Hires Bassuk to Lead New Liquid Alts Platform
Franklin Square Capital Partners, a leading sponsor of non-traded business development companies and other alternative investment funds, hired Greg Bassuk as managing director and head of liquid alternative strategies. In this role, Bassuk will oversee the development and management of the firm’s liquid alternatives platform.
“Greg Bassuk is a veteran in the liquid alternative investments space with an impressive track record,” said Michael Forman, chairman and chief executive officer of Franklin Square. “We are delighted Greg has joined Franklin Square to lead our liquid alts efforts, which we will pursue with the same focus on transparency and investor protection that has defined our firm’s approach since our inception.”
Bassuk was most recently the chief operating officer of IndexIQ, an asset management firm that he co-founded and sold to New York Life Investment Management. He helped IndexIQ bring the industry’s first set of liquid alternative investments to market through mutual fund, exchange traded fund, separate account and model portfolio products, growing the firm into the industry’s largest alternative ETF provider. Prior to IndexIQ, Bassuk held business-building roles at Time Warner, served as managing director of private investment firm McGovern Capital, co-founded SmartPortfolio.com (which was sold to TheStreet), and practiced as a corporate and securities attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
Bassuk is working closely with Franklin Square’s chief investment officer Mike Kelly, former CEO of ORIX USA Asset Management and FrontPoint Partners, who joined Franklin Square earlier this year. He will also work with other product development specialists at Franklin Square, including Steve Landau, formerly of New York Life Investment Management.
“Franklin Square has created an impressive set of differentiated alternative investment funds,” said Bassuk. “I am pleased to be joining the firm to lead the effort to build out a liquid alternatives business that will continue Franklin Square’s role as a leading sponsor of alternative investments.”
Bassuk was recognized as one of four “Fund Marketers of the Year” at the 2012 Mutual Fund Industry Awards and by NICSA in 2013 for Creativity in Marketing Operations. For his longtime civic work, he was named one of two annual recipients nationwide of the United States Young American Medal for Service. He is a board member of several civic organizations, including the Coalition for Debtor Education and the United Way of Westchester and Putnam Counties, where he recently served as board chairman.
Bassuk received a bachelor of science degree with honors from Cornell University and his juris doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Franklin Square managed approximately $17.0 billion in assets as of September 30, 2015.
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