Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Equity Fund The Satori Fund

Dan Niles | Biography

Niles is the recipient of five awards in the Wall Street Journal’s ‘Best on the Street’ survey

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : April 11, 2022

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Dan Niles is the founder of The Satori Fund, a technology-biased long-short equity fund.

His Ethnicity, Background, Education, and Career

Dan Niles is an American hedge fund manager who was raised in a family of Congregational and Methodist ministers in Jaffna, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), dating back to the first Tamil convert in 1821. He earned a doctorate from the University of London after graduating from what is now United Theological College in Bangalore, India. His ecumenical work started with the Student Christian Movement for Burma, India, and Ceylon and proceeded at the 1938 meeting of the International Missionary Council in Madras.

He gave the keynote address at the founding of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Amsterdam in 1948, as well as speeches in Evanston (1954) and Uppsala (1968). Niles also served as executive secretary of the Department of Evangelism, chairman of the Youth Department, and one of the six world presidents of the World Council of Churches. 

In the meantime, he was the leader of the Methodist Church of Ceylon, the National Christian Council of Ceylon, the World Student Christian Federation, and the East Asia Christian Conference (which he was instrumental in founding). He was a devout Methodist, but he was more concerned with global ecumenism than with national or denominational confessionalism.

Niles was also featured on CNBC's chat show Squawk Box to discuss which technology stocks to watch. He also appears on the network regularly to share his stock predictions. In 2001, he earned the moniker "Michael Jordan of Technology Stock Analysts" after predicting that computer company Dell would miss earnings for the first time in nearly a decade.

Niles was one of only three analysts from any industry sector to win three awards in 2000. In addition to that, he has also won five awards from the Wall Street Journal's Best on the Street survey, including stock picking awards in the themes of computer peripherals, computer hardware & PCs, and semiconductors.

He Is From Sri Lanka

A native of Sri Lanka, Daniel T Niles’ birthday falls on 29 June. According to a wiki site, he was born in 1967. However, Niles has not disclosed much information about his personal life and family. 

He Has An Engineering Background

Niles graduated with a Bachelor of Science in System Engineering from Boston University in 1989. He then earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1990. 

Niles began his career as an engineer at a computer company, Digital Equipment Corporation. 

He Quickly Shifted His Career In Investment Sector

Even though Niles received an engineering degree with an intention to become an engineer, he developed a passion for investing. He subsequently decided to follow his passion. 

In 1990, Niles kicked off his career on Wall Street as an investment banker at a wealth management firm, Robertson Stephens. For the next four years, Niles specialized in technology transactions like mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and convertible debt offerings. He also became a sell-side research analyst at Robertson Stephens in 1994 and covered top technology companies such as Apple, Dell, and Intel until 2000. 

After working at Robertson Stephens for a decade, he joined Lehman Brothers in May 2000 as managing director and sell-side equity research analyst. At Lehman Brother, he covered semiconductor and computer hardware stocks. 

Also Read: Raymond McGuire - Wife, Bio & Education 

He Founded Neuberger Berman Technology Management, LLC and AlphaOne Capital Partners LLC

From 2004 to 2008, Niles served as a managing director at Lehman Brothers’ subsidiary investment management firm Neuberger Berman, Inc. He began his career at Lehman Brothers as a Managing Director and Head of Computer Hardware and Semiconductor Research in May 2000, a position he held until the end of 2003.

Niles founded and became chief executive director of Neuberger Berman Technology Management, LLC. The company focused on short-long equity investments in the technological sector. 

Before joining Lehman, Niles worked at Robertson Stephens from 1994 to 2000, where he followed similar equity research responsibilities after beginning in Robertson's mergers and acquisitions investment banking group. Besides, he has also worked as an engineer for Digital Equipment Corporation before starting his Wall Street career.

In March 2008, he founded an asset management firm called AlphaOne Capital Partners LLC. He served the firm for nearly 12 years, till December 2019, as a founder and portfolio manager. In addition, he was a co-chief investment officer at AlphaOne Capital Partners. 

He Is The Founder Of The Satori Fund

Niles launched his own equity fund called The Satori Fund in March 2004. It is a technology-biased long-short equity fund that focuses on U.S. technology companies. As per the official website of The Satori Fund, the company protects capital at times of extreme market stress and generates wealth throughout market cycles. The Satori Fund’s net exposure ranges from minus 15 % to plus 50 %, and its gross exposure typically ranges from 100-150 %. The Satori Fund uses fundamental, technical, and macro-economic analysis to generate a portfolio of 20-40 positions. It serves institutional and high net-worth investors. 

The AlphaOne Satori Fund, which Niles then managed at Neuberger Berman, was named "Best Newcomer" by MARHedge at the U.S. Performance Awards in New York in April 2006. In addition, Niles was recognized for excellence in equity research prior to founding the fund in 2004: he was named to Institutional Investor magazine's 'All-America Equity Research Team' in the semiconductor and PC hardware/IT hardware criteria numerous times.

In an interview with Benzinga in 2010, Niles talked about the semiconductors and said, "If you are following semiconductors you are two steps removed potentially from the end-market consumer. Let's say that a cell phone manufacturer is having trouble selling their phones. The distributors may see it first or a Best Buy may see it first. Then they are going to turn around and tell the phone manufacturer that they don't need as many phones."

He continued, "Orders change all the time, so it is nothing to get that concerned about. It could be a couple of months before the phone or PC manufacturer hears that sales are slowing down and distributors don't need as much stuff."

He Provides Webinar Sessions To Top-Level Executives Through GSA

In 2009, Niles teamed up with Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), an organization that brings together semiconductor companies to represent and promote industry-wide interests and thoughts. He also provides webinar sessions that help global executives monitor the industry’s position in the cycle. 

He Regularly Appears On Media

Niles is also a financial commentator. He frequently appears on various business news platforms, including CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg Market, and Yahoo Finance, sharing his expert opinion about the stock market, investments, and predictions on stocks. 

Most recently, in March 2022, he joined CNBC’s pre-market morning news and talk program Squawk Box to discuss the downturn stock trends in the Fintech market. Briefing about his interview on Twitter, he wrote, “Bought names down 60-80% in areas like Fintech. Expecting ST rally given extreme moves like nickel +64% on 3/7! Still expect S&P down 20%+ over 1+ yrs. Adding shorts in ~70% retracement rallies & covering extreme technical drops.”

About a week later, he appeared on CNBC Asia to discuss a similar topic. He again appeared on CNBC in April, discussing the impact of inflation on the economy, Russia’s impact on EU and China lockdowns, and more. 

Niles also occasionally appears on Fox Business’s weekly primetime investing program Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.

Additionally, Niles updates the information about his media appearances and shares his opinions about stock trends on his Twitter handle @DanielTNiles, where he has more than 42 thousand followers. He also runs an eponymous website Danniles.com, where he has provided comprehensive information about his works, interviews, articles, and more. 

He Has Received Multiple Awards And Recognition

Niles has received several awards and recognitions for his contribution to the financial sector. He is the recipient of five awards in the Wall Street Journal’s ‘Best on the Street’ survey, including stock picking in the categories of computer hardware & PCs, computer peripherals, and semiconductors. In addition, as a research analyst, he received three awards for stock picking, useful and timely calls, and earnings estimates in 2000. 

Niles was chosen for Institutional Investor magazine’s ‘All-America Equity Research Team’ in the semiconductor category from 1999 to 2003 and the PC hardware/IT hardware categories from 2000 to 2003. He has also been named a top ten Equity Long/Short performer by BarclayHedge.

In April 2006, the AlphaOne Satori Fund managed by Niles was recognized as the ‘Best Newcomer,’ by a semi-monthly financial newsletter, MARHedge, during the ‘U.S. Performance Awards’ in New York.

His Net Worth Is In The Millions

According to the investment website Market Realist, Niles’ net worth is estimated to be over $9 million as of March 2021. However, the website assumes that his portfolio may exceed several times because he had held multiple well-paying positions before starting his own equity fund, The Satori Fund.

Niles Has Revealed Little About His Personal And Dating Life

Niles has not disclosed any information about his wife and family publicly. However, he is a married man.

On 26 April 2019, he tweeted about his observation about the semiconductor index during the nearly three decades of his career on Wall Street. In a subsequent tweet that same day, he mentioned that he had a great date night with his wife.

Sharing a picture with his wife and two singers from The Sisterhood Band, he wrote, “Having said that, the stock of @thesisterhoodband, I think is going to go up quite a bit when their new singles drop on 10 May. Great date night yesterday with my wife at the Warfield and loved meeting the talented @alyssabonagura & @realrubystewart.”

In his Twitter bio, Niles has also mentioned himself as a “Proud Dad,” which indicates that he has a child/children.