Meet Epic Funds

Alec co-founded Epic Funds with Michael and Jimmy. As Managing Partner, he is primarily responsible for setting the firm’s strategy, vision, and investment focus. He also serves on the investment committee.

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Prior to Epic Funds, Alec spent six years with IWP Family Office in Denver, Colorado, where he focused on building and executing portfolio allocations for high-net-worth clients across public and private markets. His role expanded to private investment research and due diligence. 

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Ultimately, Alec found that differentiated managers offered the potential for more compelling returns and diversification than more mainstream strategies did. Despite recognizing this potential source of differentiated returns, his family office clients often found it difficult to invest in these opportunities because they were difficult to underwrite and hard to access. These dynamics lead Alec to launch the firm’s first internal fund – what became Epic Fund I – and to develop a scalable investment process that emphasized developing themes based on the current macro environment, and recommending allocations based on a thorough evaluation of a particular market opportunity, fund size, and management team. 

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Alec led all facets of launching what became Epic Funds, including vehicle structuring, leading the investment committee, sourcing, and due diligence. In January 2021, with support from the IWP partners, he established Epic Funds to pursue his passion for identifying niche and capacity-constrained opportunities in private markets. 

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Alec is a graduate of the University of Denver, where he earned a B.S. in Finance. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Kristin, and their chocolate lab. He takes advantage of the outdoors whenever possible. He does endurance sports and has completed Ironman 70.3 Texas and a 110-mile gravel bike race, Valley of Tears. You can find Alec and his wife exploring Austin’s food scene and enjoying as much live music as possible.

Jimmy co-founded Epic Funds with Alec and Michael. As the firm’s Head of Investments, he oversees investment sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio management. He also serves on the investment committee. 

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Jimmy began his career working in fixed income credit sales at UBS Investment Bank. He then moved to Aesir Capital Management, where he gained experience in credit trading, portfolio management, and risk management. Intrigued by private equity, Jimmy left Aesir for Envisage Equity, a boutique investment bank focused on lower middle market principal investing and advisory services. Working at Envisage gave him the opportunity to lead investments and raise capital. From Envisage, he moved to IWP Family Office for a role as Senior Investment Analyst. There he worked with Alec on deploying the firm’s first fund, Epic Fund I. Later, pursuing his interest in niche and capacity constrained private market strategies, Jimmy helped spin out Epic Funds from IWP. 

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In addition to his role at Epic Funds, Jimmy serves as President of Sicily Family Office, where he makes both primary and direct investments. Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science and Government and was a member of the men’s volleyball team.

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A California native with family roots in Philadelphia, Jimmy lives in the Los Angeles area, but cheers for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. He’s also a huge fan of LA’s Lakers and Dodgers. Jimmy and his wife, Megan, stay busy in Hermosa Beach with their daughter and son.

Michael co-founded Epic Funds with Alec and Jimmy and now leads the firm’s operations, including investor relations, marketing, and capital formation. He also serves on the investment committee. 

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Michael started his career as a Management Consultant at PwC, where he served on the PwC Advisory Council, a team working directly with senior leadership on firm strategy. He also worked with both private and public entities in finance engagements. He next joined Uber Technologies as a Team Lead in the New Verticals function, an internal incubator where new lines of business are tested, built, and launched on the Uber platform. He was also highly involved in corporate development activity at Uber—including the acquisitions of Postmates and Drizzly — and was at the company for its IPO. He continues to be involved in the ex-Uber alumni network, which consists primarily of VC investors and start-up founders. Seeing an opportunity to bring techniques and skills from technology to financial services, Michael left Uber to found Epic Funds in January 2021 and pursue his passion for implementing operational excellence and scalability in nascent businesses. 

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Michael is a graduate of UCLA, where he earned a B.S. in Business Economics. Today, he’s proud to be a member of the University’s Economics Department, serving on the Board of Advisors for the Master of Quantitative Economics program. In conjunction with this role, he coaches teams of students in primary research engagements related to private market investment strategies. 

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A Californian by birth, Michael now lives again in the Golden State after growing up in Austin, Texas. He enjoys cooking and grilling on weekends. His rescue dog, Frannie, is usually at his side, running, swimming, and attending business events.

Valentine joined Epic Funds in 2023. As Director of Investor Solutions, he is responsible for investor relations and client engagement.

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He has spent most of his 20-year-long career in private markets. His responsibilities have included spearheading strategic initiatives, such as launching new products and funds, partnering with clients to develop custom solutions, and capital formation. Prior to joining Epic Funds, Valentine was a Vice President at Abbott Capital Management in New York. He has also worked at Schroders Capital, Capital Dynamics, Vontobel Asset Management, and Brookfield Asset Management. Valentine started his career as an Associate Portfolio Manager at J.P. Morgan.

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He was drawn to Epic Funds due to respect and enthusiasm for its work and its mission: “With my 20 years of experience, it is clear to me that market dynamics are changing, and Epic Funds is an early innovator that is effectively responding to those changes,” Valentine says.

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He holds a B.S. in Business Management from SUNY Old Westbury. A native New Yorker, Valentine now lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Asiya, and their four daughters. There, he serves as the Board Chair and Public Pension Plan Trustee for the Town of Surfside. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Securities Professionals—New York Chapter. He is a competitive runner who also enjoys auto racing and painting. Photo realism is his specialty.

John joined Epic Funds in 2022. As Head of Finance, he manages all aspects of fund finance. He is also highly involved in most other aspects of the business, including financial planning and analysis, operations, and new ventures and investments.

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A CPA, John started his career with KPMG in New York. After five years of experience with the Alternative Investments vertical of KPMG’s Financial Services audit practice, he left KPMG for a position as an Assistant Controller at Antares Capital, a General Electric spinoff that was launching the asset management function of its business. There, he managed all financial reporting responsibilities for seven closed-end private credit funds with various structures and limited partners. Following Antares, John served as Controller at Behring Capital, leading all of the firm’s accounting functions and responsibilities, including reporting for private equity real estate funds.

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After meeting the partners at Epic Funds, John recognized the opportunity to join a uniquely positioned and growing firm that meets a crucial market need. “I see the world in a way that’s similar to Alec, Jimmy, and Michael, and I felt that their firm was one where I could use my skill set to make a meaningful impact and help grow the business.”

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John holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Accounting, both earned at James Madison University. Originally from New Jersey, John headed south to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2020. He lives there now with his wife, Caila, and their young daughter and son. A goldendoodle named Koda is also part of the family.

Alyssa joined Epic Funds in 2023. As an Investment Associate, she works closely with Alec and Jimmy in sourcing, analyzing, and executing Investments. 

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Alyssa started her career with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation within Structured Finance. There she helped originate and structure fund financing (NAV, subscription, and FX) to funds globally and across all strategies. She next joined Unigestion as a Private Equity Associate responsible for evaluating investment opportunities and performing valuation analyses of private equity secondary transactions across buyout and growth strategies. 

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Looking for a new opportunities within the private funds space, she was drawn to the Epic Funds story and strategy: “I wanted to help drive the growth of an innovative investment firm”, Alyssa says. “Most importantly, I have faith in the Epic Funds strategy. Niche strategies are by far the most interesting and are continually evolving, which keeps the market very compelling.” 

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Alyssa has a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University, where she completed the dual degree a year early. Her education included a year at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Originally from Boston, Alyssa now lives in Brooklyn where she enjoys all that New York City has to offer. An avid traveler, she took a year to explore Asia on her own and worked a ski season on Hokkaido in northern Japan prior to joining Epic Funds. She continues to travel and ski whenever and wherever possible.