New Avalon Lake Partners to Serve Startup Alternative Asset Managers

In January 2011, tax and business advisory firm WTP Advisors announced it would acquire Sala Associates, an operations consultancy for startup hedge funds, headed by Lou Sala. Less than two years later, the two firms are parting ways, and Sala's new venture will be called Avalon Lake Partners and will cater to alternative asset managers.

Sala tells Buy-Side Technology the two firms maintain a very good relationship, but that he wanted to focus solely on what he has done for most of his career—helping startup and spun-out hedge funds.

"The largest advantage is that we can stick to our knitting. I want to focus on the alternative assets space. When we first came on board [with WTP Advisors] we had the idea of setting up a full capital markets-type of presence, so we were looking at some bulge-bracket firms and doing some things outside of the scope of the alternative assets space. But I really just want to stick to that one space, which is effectively hedge funds, private equity, family offices, and so on,” he says.

As there is no "preeminent" consultancy in the space, according to Sala, he says there is an opening to gain traction quickly. In addition, Avalon Lake Partners will also provide outsourced C-level services for the positions of chief financial, operations and compliance officers.

"If you look at what's happened with the various regulations that have come out, we're well-positioned to help all startups, both from a standpoint of single managers looking to set up hedge funds and also for teams spinning out," Sala says.

Joining Sala are Jay Goldstein and Ilicia Silverman. Avalon Lake Partners will be headquartered in New York and plans to set up offices in Chicago and San Francisco in the near future.

In a statement, WTP Advisors co-founder and partner Ian Boccaccio says, "We are incredibly excited for Lou and his intrepid team and are confident that they will flourish under this new brand."