Firm History

Summit Private Investments (originally known as Ronald A. Karp Associates, Inc.) was founded in 1980 by Ron Karp and is a Registered Investment Advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm began as a pension investment consulting practice providing investment advice to institutional clients on both traditional and alternative strategies.

While in the pension consulting business, the firm conducted an extensive study on hedge funds. As a result of this research, SPI began managing its first fund-of-hedge-funds partnership in 1991. Its early partners were firm employees and their friends and family. Jeff Karp joined the firm in 1994 to focus on manager research and has subsequently taken the lead in the management of this business.

For the next 10 years, the firm continued to maintain the pension investment consulting practice along with managing its fund-of-hedge-funds. In 2003, management decided to wind down the consulting practice in order to focus on the fund-of-hedge-funds business. The firm has exited the consulting business and its name was changed to Summit Private Investments, Inc. in 2006.