Greetings from Chapel Hill, NC (from Brad B)

I hope that this email finds everyone safe, happy, and neither miserably hot nor getting drenched by the storms…

As for me, I am writing from seat 9B of an American Airlines plane taking me to Boston for the weekend (actually, then to Connecticut for a wedding…). For all those of you who have been traveling for the summer, you will be happy to know that my flight, too, is massively delayed. Some mysterious mechanical issue which is much more likely some mysterious quasi-bankrupt airline not trying too hard… (or not having their incentives aligned or some other such LEAD concept, I’m sure)

Nonetheless, summer is treating me very well, even in spite of living 612 miles from Cheryl. We have each been back and forth, so it makes it work, but it is very strange after being together for 8 years to live apart for a couple of months. In our spare time, we have begun the house-hunting process for next year in Chapel Hill, so that keeps us thinking about the future rather than the present situation.

The silver lining to that is that Morgan Creek Capital (the business I have been working on since October) is coming together nicely and I love my work there. We now have 7 families we advise and about $1.3 bn in assets, so we are a credible player in the investment management space. We recently hired our fifteenth person and continue to add to the team, likely getting to 20 or so by year end. It is a very exciting place to work – changing every day!

I’ve continued to focus entirely on the illiquid assets side of the business, looking at private equity, real estate and energy deals and funds. In the next several weeks, we should close a pooled vehicle on ~$100 million to dedicate to these investments over the next 18 months – just need to find some good deals… PLEASE let me know if any of you are seeing interesting opportunities.

Have been traveling a bit for work, as well as personally, so haven’t spent a lot of days in Chapel Hill. A handful of client meetings, a couple of bachelor parties in Atlantic City, a baptism in Dallas, a weekend at the beach with the in-laws, etc. are all keeping me busy. I leave NC in the middle of August and then Cheryl and I head to Turkey for a couple of weeks with the trek – am looking forward to that… and to seeing everyone again in the fall!

Best Regards,
BBB

As for a shameless plug: if you know anyone who needs help with their portfolio, provided they have at least a couple of million in investable assets, we would love to help… or even point them in the direction of someone who can if we can’t. Sorry – had to…