James Melcher founded Balestra Capital, Ltd. in 1979, He has spent over 40 years as a hedge fund manager, private wealth advisor and venture capitalist. He has extensive experience in a variety of investment areas, including global securities and currencies, commodities, precious metals, leveraged buyouts, private placements, corporate finance, and hedge funds. For the past 12 years he has focused on the investment management of Balestra Capital Partners, L.P. and Balestra Spectrum Partners, LLC.
Mr. Melcher began his career as a stockbroker at A.G. Becker & Co., a Wall Street investment firm, which was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 1984. He subsequently formed and managed First Venture Fund, a venture capital fund.
Mr. Melcher was a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, has competed in six World Championships, two Pan American Games and was a two-time U.S. National Champion in Epée fencing. From 1974 to 1982 he was also a member of the United States Olympic Committee's Investment Committee.
James Melcher received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University.
Mr. Cerk joined Balestra Capital in 1997 and is a Co-Portfolio Manager and Partner of the firm. He co-founded Balestra Capital Partners in 1999 and remains as the fund’s Head Trader. Mr. Cerk is responsible for researching and optimizing the firm’s implementation of its global macro themes and tactical hedging. As head trader, he is also responsible for trading of all asset classes and instruments including futures, equities, options, fixed income, currencies, commodities, precious metals, and credit derivatives.
Previously, Mr. Cerk was a trader and Portfolio Manager with Hollis Capital, a long-short hedge fund, as well as an analyst and trader at Svarna Capital Offshore Fund, a long-short hedge fund. Norman Cerk received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with a focus on International Relations from the University of Wisconsin.
Matthew Luckett joined Balestra Capital in 2004 and is a Co-Portfolio Manager and Partner of the firm. Mr. Luckett is responsible for portfolio strategy, research and portfolio risk supervision for Balestra Capital Partners.
Mr. Luckett began his career as an industry analyst at Gartner Group, where he helped launch several successful research practices, advising Fortune 500 enterprises on software licensing and pricing issues, as well as tracking emerging software companies.
Mr. Luckett was a Principal and Senior Research Analyst at SoundView Technology Group (NASDAQ: SNDV), where he was responsible for research coverage of software, internet and business services companies. He became a venture capitalist and senior operating executive for three years, upon successful sale of his firm to Wit Capital and subsequently to Charles Schwab.
In 2000, he was named to the Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” analyst team.
Matthew Luckett was a George F. Baker Scholar at Georgetown University where he graduated cum laude. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies with a minor in Japanese.
Mr. Chambers manages Balestra Spectrum Partners, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds. Previously, Mr. Chambers was portfolio manager at Ranger Advisors, a fund of hedge funds firm from 2001-2008. While at Ranger, he managed the investment process and portfolio. From 1995 to 2001, Mr. Chambers was Chief Financial Officer at McGarr Capital Management, an equity long/short fund where he oversaw all operations, financial, tax and compliance matters. Mr. Chambers began his professional career at KPMG where he served as Manager before joining McGarr. Mr. Chambers earned a B.B.A. in Accounting from Harding University.