Jonathan Shafter

Jonathan Shafter
Boston Provident

Winning the respect of Orin Kramer, founder of New York hedge fund firm Boston Provident, is not easy. Kramer is one of the top financial services investors in the U.S., with an annualized return since inception on his long-short equity fund of 14.93 percent. To successfully work alongside him at his hedge fund would daunt the most experienced investment professionals. Yet since joining Boston Provident in January 2003, Jonathan Shafter, senior portfolio manager and director of research, has thrived.

A graduate of Brown University with AB and AM degrees in political science, Shafter went on to become a consultant in the financial services group at McKinsey & Co. in New York after receiving his JD from Columbia Law School in 2001. It was just after the bursting of the dot-com bubble, and the consulting industry was in the doldrums. Looking around for what to do next, Shafter called Kramer for advice. The two struck up a rapport that led to Kramer’s asking Shafter to join his firm. It helps that they share a passion for politics and public service — Shafter, who turns 36 this month, recently led a project for the New York Bar Association examining sovereign debt policy reforms — as well as an acumen for investing.