Vision Capital's Investment Team
SENIOR PERSONNEL
Adam Benowitz
Senior Managing Director; Chief Investment Officer
Adam Benowitz, co-founder of Vision, is responsible for directing the overall investment strategy of the Firm. He has had over 18 years of experience in the industry. Previously, he was the head trader for Rose Glen Capital and served in various senior trading and portfolio management roles at Apex Capital Management, Susquehanna Investment Group, The American Stock Exchange, RMS Associates, and Legg Mason Wood Walker. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology.
Randolph Cohen, Ph.D.
Senior Managing Director; President
Dr. Cohen, co-founder of Vision, is responsible for overseeing strategic direction, risk management, business development, and financial operations. He has published working papers on the subjects of Alternative Investment Management, Asset Pricing, and Finance. Dr. Cohen joined the MIT Sloan School Faculty in 2009 as a Visiting Associate Professor of Finance. From 1998-2009, he taught at Harvard Business School, most recently as Associate Professor of Finance. He currently teaches Investments, an elective course for MIT Sloan MBA students. Professor Cohen graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Mathematics, and completed a Ph.D. in Finance at the University of Chicago. Before coming to HBS, Professor Cohen worked as an actuarial management consultant specializing in pension plan asset/liability analysis. Professor Cohen lectures worldwide on Investment Management and valuation of "hard to value" assets.
Carl Kleidman
Managing Director; Investments
Carl Kleidman brings 25 years of investment experience to Vision. He oversees Vision's Investment Team and manages the overall structure and execution of investment transactions. Prior to joining Vision, Mr. Kleidman was a Managing Director at Centrecourt Asset Management and ComVest Investment Partners, as well as Head of Investment Banking at Commonwealth Associates and Barington Capital Group. Previously he was a partner at the law firm of Shea and Gould. Mr. Kleidman holds a J.D. from Cornell University Law School and a B.S. in Public Accounting & Finance, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University.
VISION CAPITAL ADVISORS TEAM
Robert Thomson
Defense/Security, Industrials, Consumer Products
Rob Thomson specializes in defense and security investments. Prior to Vision, Mr. Thomson was a Managing Director of The Arkin Group LLC, an international business intelligence firm specializing in providing investigative due diligence to Fortune 500 companies and asset managers. Additionally, he worked as an analyst for Steel Partners LP and a Research Associate for the Council of Foreign Relations. Mr. Thomson holds an M.B.A from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Haverford College. He is currently a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Andrew P. Merkatz
Alternative Energy; Technology
Andy Merkatz specializes in Alternative Energy and Technology. Prior to joining Vision, he was the founder and Managing Partner of CountryRoad Capital, a merchant banking firm specializing in alternative public offerings. Previously, Andy served as President and CEO of Predict It, Inc., a publicly traded internet software company and as Chief Operating Officer & co-Founder of SiteSpecific, one of the first internet advertising agencies. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Andy worked in middle market private equity at Interlaken Capital. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.A. in Economics, with distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania.
Tianning (Tina) Yu, Ph.D.
Emerging Markets; China Biotech/Pharma
Tianning (Tina) Yu specializes in investments in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries as well as firms operating in the Greater China region. Prior to Vision, she was a senior research scientist at Wyeth BioPharma and worked for Genzyme Biosurgery, Morgan Stanley, and Fidelity Asia Ventures in Hong Kong. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a B.S. from University of Science and Technology of China. Ms. Yu is fluent in Mandarin.
Stuart Bradley (Consultant)
Emerging Markets - China
Stuart Bradley specializes in investments in the Greater China region. Prior to joining Vision he worked as an Associate Director in the Investment Banking Department of UBS Securities in Beijing and as an Associate in the Investment Banking Department of HSBC in Hong Kong where he focused on state-owned enterprise restructuring, IPO and M&A transactions. Mr. Bradley completed the Wharton-Lauder dual-degree MBA/MA at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with honors. Mr. Bradley is fluent in written and spoken Mandarin and has completed Mandarin language programs at Beijing Normal University with Princeton-in-Beijing and at Tsinghua University with the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies. He has a Bachelor's degree, cum laude, in Physics from Princeton University.
Antti William Uusiheimala
Special Projects
Antti Uusiheimala currently specializes in special projects; previously, he worked on investment transactions for the Vision funds in New York City and Beijing, and was responsible for opening Vision's Beijing office. Prior to joining Vision, he worked as an Associate Lawyer at ACE Law Ltd and was Business Development Manager for CRF Health, Inc., a software company servicing the pharmaceutical clinical trial industry. He has an L.L.M. in Law and Economics from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the RSM Erasmus University. Additionally, he served as staff sergeant in the Finnish Army.
Ray Wong
Analyst
Prior to joining Vision, Mr. Wong served as a Portfolio Analyst at BlackRock, Inc, where he specialized in fixed income portfolio and risk management. Mr. Wong holds a B.S. in Operations Research and Engineering from Cornell University.
Andrew Czernecki
Analyst
Andrew Czernecki focuses on investments in Alternative Energy and Medical Technology. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics and a certificate in Markets and Management Studies from Duke University. Mr. Czernecki is fluent in Polish and French.