Firm Overview
Long term Strategic Partners
Chesapeake Asset Management (CAM) is a privately owned investment advisor founded in 1998, serving as a long term strategic partner to individuals, families, small businesses, endowments, and foundations. The firm’s origins trace back to the founders’ longstanding investment leadership of prestigious educational and charitable organizations and their ability to implement that same endowment model of investing for all clients.
CAM’s comprehensive platform offers specialized expertise across a broad range of asset classes, combining direct investing in public markets with capital allocation across a select number of outside managers. CAM’s seasoned team of investment professionals can provide unbiased, highly customized solutions that address each client’s individual needs.
CAM Advisory
CAM Advisory advises family and endowment clients on the creation of customized, multi-asset portfolios with a particular focus on alternative investments.
CAM Wealth
CAM Wealth provides comprehensive financial advisory services to individuals and families, designed to help clients progressively grow assets, diversify holdings, and ensure their legacy for future generations.
Our Heritage
Exceptional Multi-Decade Investment Record
Chesapeake’s involvement in managing multi-asset portfolios goes well beyond the founding of the firm in 1998. During a 50-year career, Chesapeake co-founder Jonathan L. Smith held leadership roles in investment committees for various endowments and foundations, including those of Spelman College, The Fresh Air Fund, Marlboro College, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Collegiate School, and Oberlin College.
The firm has been an early adopter of alternative investments with a multi-decade investment record and an exceptional roster of managers across a variety of fields. CAM’s investment approach combines direct public investments with capital allocation to outside managers covering a broad range of alternative investments (e.g., hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real-estate).
Chesapeake’s experienced investment team has been led by CIO Gerasimos Efthimiatos since 2015. He is supported by an investment committee of seasoned professionals with direct portfolio management experience, and an operations team with extensive knowledge servicing both family and institutional accounts.
Leadership
Leadership Team

Meet our leadership team
Gerasimos Efthimiatos
Gerasimos is Chesapeake’s Chief Investment Officer, overseeing both direct and externally managed investments. Gerasimos has over twenty years of experience as an investment professional, incuding as Partner at London-based long/short equity hedge fund Habrok Capital, and Senior Trader at Axiom Investments and Arbitrade. He has an MBA in Finance from Cornell’s Johnson School of Management and a Masters in Engineering from Imperial College of Science & Technology in London.
Jesse Christensen
Jesse began his career at Fidelity where he went on to run the stock purchase and stock option planning team for the firm’s corporate executive clients. Leveraging those relationships, Jesse transitioned to Morgan Stanley in 2011 where he ran a wealth management team specializing in high-net-worth and corporate executive services. In 2017, Jesse co-founded an independent investment advisory firm, Cherry Lane Capital. Upon Chesapeake’s acquisition of Cherry Lane in 2022, Jesse was named Partner and Co-Head of the firm’s Wealth Management division.
A graduate of Syracuse University, Jesse lives on the Hoboken waterfront in New Jersey. An avid golfer, Jesse enjoys spending time on the course and traveling to Europe when he’s away from the office.
Ryan Berman
Ryan brings an accounting background to Chesapeake as his career began at PKF O’Connor Davies where he managed a team auditing public and private companies across various industries. Transitioning to wealth management in 2011, Ryan spent six years at Morgan Stanley as Private Wealth Advisor and Co-Portfolio Manager. In 2017, Ryan co-founded an independent investment advisory firm, Cherry Lane Capital. Ryan led the opening of Cherry Lane’s Florida office in 2018 and upon Chesapeake’s acquisition of Cherry Lane in 2022 was named Partner and Co-Head of the firm’s Wealth Management division.
Ryan splits time between New York and Florida but is a native New Yorker, graduating from the State College at Oneonta and holding a B.S. in Professional Accounting with a Finance concentration.


Adam McBride
Adam began his financial services career at UBS and Bank of America. In 2008, he joined Federal Street Partners, a multi-billion-dollar fund of hedge funds, as an analyst before being promoted to lead the group in 2010. In 2014, he joined Berens Capital Management as a research analyst with additional responsibilities in portfolio management and quantitative analysis. In his role, Adam focused on manager sourcing and due diligence across fundamentally-oriented hedge fund strategies. In 2018, Adam joined Chesapeake and leads manager sourcing and analysis for the firm’s advisory business. Adam graduated from Georgetown University in 2004 and has been a CFA Charterholder since 2008 and CAIA designee since 2009.
Iffat Islam
Iffat began her career at UBS before moving to Aristeia Capital, a multi-billion-dollar relative value hedge fund, where she spent the majority of her career. As a quantitative analyst, she focused on convertible and index arbitrage as well as portfolio risk management before moving to investor relations, where she managed relationships for the firm’s institutional clients. She is a graduate of Yale University, where she received the Elga Wasserman Award for extraordinary commitment to the advancement of social justice and gender equality. She is a Charter Angel member of 100 Women in Finance.
Best deals
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Investments in startups and business are our speciality
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Investments in startups and business are our speciality
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna.
Investments in startups and business are our speciality
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna.
Investments in startups and business are our speciality
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna.