Mark Friedman is a seasoned investment professional with 30 years of experience in the hedge fund industry. He is considered by some to be one of the forefathers of the hedge fund industry.  As a young analyst in the 1980’s, Mark was frequently quoted in publications including, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, New York Times and USA Today. Mark was also recently acknowledged in hedge fund manager Scott Fearon's Dead Companies Walking.

Following several years as a Boston-based analyst, Mark was one of the first two research analysts hired at Paul D. Sonz Partners. Barron’s ranked Sonz Partners the NUMBER ONE performing hedge fund during the 1987-1990 period, with compound net annualized return of 50% vs. 12% for the S&P 500. After working at Sonz Partners and compounding his own capital at 60-plus percent annually over six years, he co-founded Avdan Partners LP in 1993. Under Mark, Avdan had a net compounded annual return of 13.2% and a gross return of 17.5%, compared to the S&P’s return of 10.5%. During that time the fund’s assets under management grew from $4 million to $150 million. Mark liquidated Avdan Partners in 2007 to focus on his personal investments.

Mark’s favorite part about working in investment analysis has always been training and mentoring young analysts in the investment field. He has mentored many successful individuals in the industry. Former analysts have established hedge funds of their own, including Lonestar Partners in San Francisco and Rudgear Consumer Fund in Larkspur, CA. Analysts also have gone on to work for GMT Capital (Atlanta), Aristotle Capital Management (Los Angeles), and AWH Capital (Dallas).