Atlantic Investment Management

Alex Roepers

Alexander J. Roepers is the founder and chief investment officer of Atlantic Investment Management, a New York value-investing firm he established in 1988. Born in the Netherlands, he took a BBA from Nijenrode University in 1980 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1984, where he has since served on the Board of Dean's Advisors. Before starting his own firm he spent years in corporate development at two industrial conglomerates, Dover Corporation (1980–82) and Thyssen-Bornemisza Group (1984–88), where he became known as "Mr. Divestiture" for rationalizing the family group's sprawling portfolio. That job shaped the firm he would build. At Thyssen-Bornemisza Roepers learned to value companies but grew uneasy with the private-equity model, with its premium prices for control and illiquid stakes. He wanted the owner's mindset applied to publicly traded shares instead, so in 1988 he set out on his own. Atlantic runs concentrated long/short portfolios built on bottom-up fundamental research, focusing on high-quality but undervalued mid-cap industrial and manufacturing businesses across packaging, aerospace, specialty chemicals, and industrial materials. His signature is what he calls "Constructive Shareholder Activism." Rather than launching proxy fights, Roepers works behind the scenes, pressing management privately to unlock value while keeping his positions liquid so he can buy or sell freely. He is sometimes called a "gentleman activist," preferring respectful dialogue with boards but willing to press harder when it is needed. His flagship Cambrian Fund holds only a handful of securities at a time, a concentration that reflects a conviction style of investing built over three decades.