Russell Jeffrey

Founder, Chief Executive Officer, & Chief Investment Officer, Providence Investment Management, LLC

 

Russell Jeffrey is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer of Providence Investment Management, LLC (“Providence”).  Providence employs a relative value investment approach and is focused on generating superior absolute returns by capitalizing on arbitrage opportunities in the agency mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and related government-guaranteed fixed income markets.  As of May 2012, Providence had total net assets under management of approximately $1.6 billion. 

 

Prior to launching Providence in November 2003, Mr. Jeffrey was co-founder and investment manager of the Watch Hill group of agency MBS funds from 1994 to 2001.  He was employed as a strategic advisor to the Funds in 2002.  At Watch Hill, Mr. Jeffrey was responsible for managing the trading activities of the domestic and offshore private investment vehicles which employed relative value, absolute return focused strategies.  In addition to building a top tier investment staff, Mr. Jeffrey developed a diversified client base, which included both large institutions and wealthy individuals.  Watch Hill began with Partner Capital of about $5 million and grew to become one of the largest MBS hedge funds at the time.

 

Prior to founding Watch Hill, Mr. Jeffrey was a Managing Director and Head of MBS Sales & Trading at Prudential Securities, Inc., a large primary dealer in MBS.  During his time at Prudential Securities, he pioneered several innovative MBS products including Freddie Mac GOLD MACS and JUMP Z’s.  He served on Prudential’s Operating Council, Risk Management Committee as well as its Trading Practices Committee. 

 

From 1988 to 1989, Mr. Jeffrey was a Principal of L.F. Rothschild and Co. where he was responsible for the firm’s MBS operations.  While at Rothschild, Mr. Jeffrey developed a market niche in mortgage derivative products, piloting the firm to a market leadership position in underwriting.  His trading career started at Merrill Lynch in 1983.  By 1985, he was the head of the group that was responsible for trading 30-year Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collateral and specified pools, which, at the time, represented the largest segments and most profitable areas of Merrill Lynch’s MBS practice.

 

Mr. Jeffrey holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island.