About us
- Vanguard Atlantic was formed in Connecticut as an S-Corp. general partnership in 1984;
- Initial partners and associates: General Partners: Ernest E. "Lee" Keet, John J. ("Jack") Pendray, & Jan Rumberger; Associates: A.G.W. ("Jack") Biddle, Denis Riney, Catherine Phillips, & Julia (Johnson) Mednick
- Performed buy-side investment banking for major investors (NYNEX, Coopers & Lybrand, National Semiconductor, and others) from 1984 through 1989;
- In 1985 the company began making private equity investments for its own account. Investments have ranged from $150,000 to $30 million (see investments);
- In 1987 Pendray and Keet published "Strategic Development for High Technology Businesses" picked by Stanford University as one of the ten best books ever written on strategic planning. It is still available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com (ISBN # 0-9618891-0-7)
- In 1989 Vanguard Atlantic left investment banking and turned its focus entirely to private equity investing;
- Vanguard Atlantic’s investment funds have all been provided by its general partners;
- The initial partnership ended in 1992 with a partial distribution of assets; The current controlling shareholders are individuals and family trusts;
- Investment objective: very early stage investments in business-to-business e-commerce, medical informatics, and work-flow automation that need talent as well as money;
- From 2008 to 2020 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. also managed a private hedge fund, mostly long, with a varying macro approach to markets. This fund has focused on high-yield equities with solid dividend coverage. Annual returns from this portfolio have consistently outperformed the markets.
- In 2014 VAL joined a limited partnership to acquire a controlling interest in Service Channel, a facilities management logistics company.
- In 2016 VAL helped form Point Positive, an Adirondack-focused angel fund. Subsequently, VAL has invested $1 million in five local companies
- In 2017, VAL led a third financing round for Clinithink. The company has taken a leadership position in real world data from patient records.
- In 2018 VAL invested in SLIC Network Solutions. SLIC connects communities to the world with high speed data, video and phone service via fiber to homes & businesses across Northern NY
- In 2019 VAL invested in Saranac Lake Community Solar (SLCS), a joint venture with Sunvestment Energy Group. SLCS provides 2mw of clean solar energy that powers 140 homes and the local hospital.
- In 2021 Service Channel was sold to Fortive Corporation for $1.2 billion giving VAL shareholders a 13x return.
- In 2022 as in prior years VAL made small investments in local Adirondack companies through the PointPositive angel cooperative.