By Andrew Cohen

From 2009 to 2021, Andrew Skatoff worked at Belfer Management, the family office of the Belfer family. Skatoff explains how he has built upon a long-term investment strategy he learned at the family office to launch Bancreek Capital Advisors, a registered investment adviser. 

What did you learn about investing and long-term capital strategies from your time with the family office? 

During my time with the family office, I had the privilege of working alongside a family and CIO who operated with an exceptional framework for term compounding. One of the most important lessons I learned was the value of patience. The ability to deploy capital and hold investments through multiple market cycles allowed the family to align their investment horizon with the duration of their capital. 

This approach required tuning out short-term noise, as the inevitable volatility along the way could easily distract or lead to poor decision-making if you let it. The long-term nature of the family’s capital was also my introduction to the wonderful attributes that make structurally advantaged business models great vehicles for compounding capital. 

Another key takeaway was the importance of flexibility. Without the rigid constraints of traditional investment mandates, we were able to access a broader range of opportunities across all asset classes. This nimbleness allowed us to capitalize on unique situations when we were presented with compelling investment ideas, without sacrificing the overarching goal of compounding capital over the long term. 

How have you tried to enhance the investment strategy you developed at the family office after launching Bancreek? 

While the core principles of long-term investing and focusing on structurally advantaged businesses remained central to our philosophy, at Bancreek, we set out to enhance these concepts through a more data-driven and systemic approach. We wanted to take what worked on the qualitative side and complement it with quantitative rigor. Over the years, we’ve built and integrated quantitative tools into our investment process, refining our framework to enhance both decision-making and portfolio management. 

This evolution led us to develop our quantitative framework for public market investing, culminating in the launch of our Bancreek ETFs: Bancreek U.S. Large CapETF (NYSE: BCUS) and Bancreek International Large Cap ETF (NYSE: BCIL). The ETF structure allows us to apply our systematic approach at scale, offering all investors access to diversified portfolios of structurally advantaged businesses, built on the same disciplined, quantitative foundation that drives our investment decisions. 

Do you feel the family office space has evolved since you started in 2009? 

When I started back in 2009, the family office world was not nearly as visible as it is today. Over the years, it has evolved to become much more institutionalized, as families have developed more sophisticated investment approaches to mirror larger investment firms and take advantage of the scale some of the wealthiest families possess. Many family offices have even gone so far as to build out teams specifically constructed to deploy capital in areas such as private equity and venture capital to uncover interesting investment opportunities. 

How does working for a family office differ from jobs at other financial institutions or investment firms? 

The biggest difference is that you are working directly for a family rather than a portfolio manager at a hedge fund or a managing director at a large bank. The family might be led by a first-generation founder who is very evolved in the investment decision process and growth of the firm, or it could be a multi-generational family with roots dating back to the early 1900s with a much more sprawling family and established set of investment objectives and infrastructure. This makes it incredibly important to have a deep understanding and respect for the family’s goals as well as any investment mandates, as these are paramount to building a successful career within the family office.