Thomas Sass
Director of Platform, HFR Asset Management, HFR Group, LLC
Biography
Thomas C. Sass, Ph.D, (Captain, USN Ret.), serves as a Director of Platform, HFR Asset Management. He joined the firm after serving 24 years in the United States Navy SEAL Teams.
Upon graduating from Yale College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, Tom joined Carill Incorporated as a commodities merchant where he marketed and traded feed grains, wheat, oil seeds and freight into domestic and international markets.
After graduating from Basic Underwater / SEAL Training in 1988 as the Honor Man of Class 151, Tom began his career in Naval Special Warfare. He reported to SEAL Team THREE and began a quarter of a century of service to his country as a United States Naval officer serving in operational and staff posting across the globe. Tom served as the Commanding Officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team ONE in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on his final operational tour of duty. In this capacity, he deployed overseas multiple times to lead high risk special operations in support of national and theater level objectives. He also introduced innovative technology into combat diving operations.
Upon completion of his command tour, Tom joined the United Sates Naval War College in 2007 as the MG “Wild” Bill Donovan Special Operations Forces Chair. In this capacity he established a multi-course continuum and published on Special Operations. In addition, he served as a founding member and Deputy Director of the Naval War College’s Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups.
Tom Sass also received a Masters of Public Administration from the Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. While serving as the US Navy’s Moreau Scholar, he earned a Masters of Law and Diplomacy and a PhD in International Relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. His dissertation, “Managing Defense Procurement: the Role of USSOCOM, Congress and Private Industry,” introduced an alternative to traditional capital investment theories in the context of strategic uncertainty and resource constraints. He continues his association with the US Naval War College as a member of the Naval War College Foundation and as one of the Naval War College’s Non-Resident Scholars.A native of Chicago, Tom, his wife Pam and their children make their home in Belmont, MA.
The HFR companies specialize in alternative investments, providing investment products and advisory and research services.
HFR Group includes HFR Asset Management, L.L.C., an SEC Registered Investment Adviser based in Chicago, with offices in London and Tokyo, specializing in fund of funds management, index funds management, product structuring, trading manager selection and risk management; and Hedge Fund Research, Inc., the industry's leading supplier of data and research on hedge funds, specializing in the construction and management of hedge fund indices.
HFR Asset Management was named Fund of Funds Leader of the Year at the 2004 Hedge Fund Industry Awards.