Some companies exist below the headlines, and this is the case with Ounavarra Capital. Ounavarra Capital provides institutional-level investment services to domestic and international investment managers. However, the charitable causes sponsored are possibly the most noteworthy aspect of this broker-dealer.
Ounavarra Capital provides qualified investors (including endowments, foundations,pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and multi-family and single-family offices) opportunities across a broad range of alternative investments including funds of hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital, and direct investments. An Ounavarra Capital spokesman stated:
Our goal is to understand the needs and objectives of investors and introduce them to investment advisors who may help them achieve their investment goals. We establish a trust created through our understanding of their portfolios and preferences, market and economic conditions, and the strategies and performance characteristics of our clients’ investment products. We work closely with our clients in representing them to qualified investors, including endowments, foundations, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and multi-family and single-family offices globally with particular strengths in the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and South America. We regularly meet with our investors to ensure we always understand and meet their investment objectives while continuing to build and strengthen our long term relationships.
Paul O’Reilly-Hyland and Joelle Wyser-Pratte founded Ounavarra Capital in 2007. Paul O’Reilly-Hyland had vast experience in the investment market, including working as Managing Director for J.P. Morgan in 2001. Joelle Wyser-Pratte founded Minerva Capital Management Ltd. in 1994, a fund trading in global equities and convertible and high yield opportunities after trading and then managing a portfolio for Pier Funds for two years, Other key members of the Ounavarra Capital team include Zoe Wilson, Harvey Glover, Sam Kaufman, Keith Thomas, Douglas Sloane, and Pierre Dupont.
In addition, the company’s senior advisor is Laurence Siegel – a former director of research in the investment division of the Ford Foundation. He was part of a team of six senior professionals managing their US$10 billion endowment fund, which is invested in stocks, bonds, real estate, private equity, and hedge funds.
Charitable Causes
After forming Ounavarra Capital, Joelle and Paul O’Reilly-Hyland (Joelle O’Reilly-Hyland) created the charity Ounavarra Foundation. The Ounavarra Foundation supports educational causes throughout the world although focusing on Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Ounavarra Foundation has donated and is involved with the following projects and organizations:
Ubuntu Africa – Paul O’Reilly-Hyland and Joelle Wyser-Pratte participated in the Westchester Triathlon to raise money for Ubuntu Africa, an organization that cares for HIV-positive children in the underserved community of Khayelitsha, South Africa – raising over $10,000 for Ubuntu Africa.
Educate Girls Globally (EGG) – Joelle Wyser-Pratte is the co-chair of the board. The primary mission of Educate Girls Globally is to provide opportunities for women and girls around the world to achieve their full potential, recognizing that educated women are the world’s most powerful agents of social change.
Mariposa – the Foundation donated money to open an academic classroom inside Mariposa Foundation’s new complex.
Fabretto Children’s Foundation – Fabretto empowers those families and children in need in Nicaragua to reach their full potential, reach new heights, and harness economic opportunity through education and nutrition.
Global Partnerships Forum – Joelle Wyser-Pratte is a strategic advisor to the organization, which addresses social issues by moving beyond aiding communities to creating real economic empowerment, with the goal of attracting direct foreign investments to create long-term sustainability.
St Patricks Day Foundation – Paul O’Reilly-Hyland is a board member.
Goal – A non-denominational, non-governmental and non-political international organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the poorest of the poor.
[Editor’s Note: Ounavarra Capital is registered as a broker/dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) in the United States of America. Ounavarra Capital is based in New York, the independent investment firm was founded to provide private placement spanning diverse alternative investment vehicles. Subsequently, Ounavarra Capital has diversified into other markets including the Asian, South American, and Middle Eastern markets.]
