Who We Are
Oak St. exists to build an investment strategy that can last for generations: a systematic, quantitative engine designed to compound capital over the very long term. We want its signals and its philosophy to be evergreen, sound enough that they rarely need to be rebuilt, while the engine itself continues to learn and evolve as markets change.
That ambition shapes the firm as much as the portfolio. We favour simple ideas with a clear economic rationale, evidence over opinion, and a long horizon over short-term approval. The path will change as new information arrives; the purpose does not.
Core Principles
Five principles sit underneath everything Oak St. does. They describe how we invest, how we build the firm, and what we are prepared to give up to keep them. They are written down so that they can be held to.
Explain It Simply
Every strategy we run must rest on a logical economic rationale that can be stated in plain terms. If an idea cannot be explained simply, it may not be robust enough to last; it may simply decay. The people responsible for a model should understand why it behaves as it does, why it proposes the positions it does, and how it allocates risk across different environments. We do not operate black boxes.
Understand the Participants
Markets are made by people, each acting on their own incentives, constraints, and biases. Our research begins with first questions: what markets are for, who bears risk in them, and what those participants expect to be paid for bearing it. Where those answers point to risk premia and behavioural biases that are strong and persistent enough to become tradable signals, we build around them.
Breadth Over Boldness
Skill matters, but so does breadth: the number of genuinely independent opportunities a portfolio can hold. Conceptually, the quality of a strategy reflects both the quality of each decision and the square root of the number of independent bets. We would rather hold many modest, well-understood positions than a few large ones we only half understand.
Strategy Before Fundraising
We build the strategy for the investors already committed to it, not to attract the next allocation. We will not reshape the mandate, offer a diluted version of it, or accept terms that bend it simply because capital is available. A coherent mandate is worth more to our partners than a collection of products.
Patience and Conviction
The most important thing in building anything durable is a clear vision and the patience to work toward it. Conviction can be difficult when others doubt the goal, but a long horizon lets us stay focused on the underlying purpose rather than on short-term approval. We regard patience as an enduring advantage.
Our People
We look for people who are hungry to learn, eager to solve hard problems, and resilient to change. Intelligence and technical skill matter, but so do a willingness to collaborate, the ability to think across disciplines, and the patience to develop a craft over time. What makes someone the right colleague depends on the mission, and ours is measured in decades.
We believe merit and genuine care for people are not opposites. Capability earns opportunity and recognition here, but merit has more than one definition, and people contribute in different ways.
A long-term culture gives people time to learn, to develop, and to make mistakes while still being held to high standards. Coaching, teaching, good tools, and room to improve matter to us far more than superficial perks.