Founders
Jeremy D. Bardin, CFA
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Jeremy is the bond market expert and portfolio manager of the fixed income asset class. He has more than 20 years of experience, most of which was spent in the institutional fixed income sales & trading divisions at Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer. He is skilled at navigating difficult market environments and has experienced multiple market cycles
Jeremy’s experience at Merrill Lynch allowed him to gain a depth and breadth of knowledge across the inner workings of the bond market that few people have been fortunate to obtain. His team would grow to execute on average over $1 billion per day in notional transaction volume. His clients were money managers, banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, Fortune 500 Corporations, foundations, endowments and family offices. He helped them manage fixed income portfolios that in aggregate exceeded more than $75 billion.
Elevate Capital is loosely modeled after his first client at Merrill Lynch, the family office of a sophisticated Texas billionaire.
Jeremy earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2004.
Jeremy is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. He lived in Dallas, Texas for 9 years before moving to San Francisco in 2009. He is an avid skier and mountain biker, as well as a mediocre surfer.
Garo Kochounian
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
As Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Elevate Capital Management, Garo Kochounian leads the firm’s active equity strategy, leveraging over 20 years of expertise working with institutional asset managers. His career spans roles at Oppenheimer, ISS and MSCI, where he worked extensively with global institutional investors, providing strategic insights and investment solutions.
Garo leads a dynamic, thematic, multi-cap portfolio, employing a research-driven investment approach that combines top-down macroeconomic analysis with advanced applied analytics. He and his team continuously sift through vast streams of market data, identifying cause-and-effect relationships within the global economy and financial markets to uncover signals that drive investment decisions. By integrating fundamental insights with real-time analytics, they assess the relevance of emerging trends to portfolio strategy.
The equity team maintains a forward-looking investment focus, targeting transformative technological innovations. For a thematic, long-term growth portfolio, exposure to these emerging tech sectors can provide significant alpha. From Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning to various technological disruptions, his team’s disciplined approach aims to capitalize on paradigm shifts that redefine industries, positioning the portfolio to harness long-term structural growth opportunities.
A deeply analytical and forward-thinking investor, Garo understands that sound investment decisions require more than just quantitative metrics—they demand a holistic view of market dynamics, industry evolution, and behavioral finance. His ability to uncover mispriced assets and asymmetric opportunities has been instrumental in Elevate Capital Management’s success. By integrating macroeconomic insights with fundamental and thematic analysis, he ensures that capital is allocated to high-conviction opportunities with sustainable long-term growth potential.
Garo possesses a keen ability to identify undervalued investment opportunities, leveraging deep market insight and a disciplined approach to uncover asymmetric risk-reward scenarios. His strong leadership acumen has enabled him to build and manage high-performing teams, fostering a culture of innovation, rigorous analysis, and strategic execution. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of San Francisco and is fluent in four languages, further enhancing his ability to navigate global markets and engage with diverse stakeholders.
On a personal level, Garo’s Armenian heritage and early childhood in Lebanon have shaped his global perspective and cultural adaptability—qualities that inform his investment approach in an increasingly interconnected world. He and his wife, Katie, reside in Berkeley, CA, where they are raising their three children, Reve, Beau, and Siena. Balancing a dynamic career with family life, Garo values long-term vision, resilience, and strategic thinking—principles that guide both his professional and personal pursuits.
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