Spark Investment Management LLC (New York)


Spark Investment Management LLC is a large advisory firm based in New York. It manages $3.25 billion of regulatory assets for 3 client accounts. It has been registered with the SEC as an adviser since 2012.

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Spark Investment Management provides portfolio management for pooled investment vehicles. It doesn't provide financial planning services to its clients. On top of advisory services, the firm doesn't engage in other business activities.

Spark Investment Management: assets under management

The assets under management (AUM) of Spark Investment Management LLC is $3.25 billion, all of which is managed in discretionary accounts. The firm's AUM has grown by 349% since the beginning of its operation, and $3.24 billion of the total AUM is attributable to clients outside of the United States.


The firm manages $3.25 billion in discretionary accounts. On average, the discretionary accounts where all decisions are made on behalf of the client hold $1.08 billion each.
Spark Investment Management has custody of $500 thousand in cash and securities for 2 clients in total but doesn’t act as a qualified custodian.

Fees & Commissions

The advisory firm has several streams of revenue. Clients pay Spark Investment Management LLC for their services and products based on a percentage of assets under management and performance-based fees. The adviser charges an additional fee when a set benchmark is outperformed. These fees don’t include brokerage commissions, interest, taxes, and other account expenses.

What kind of clients Spark Investment Management serves?

The only and largest group of clients of Spark Investment Management is pooled investment vehicles with 3 clients and $3.25 billion of assets under management. Among the 10 most similar advisory firms, Spark Investment Management has the 3rd highest percentage of pooled investment vehicles out of all clients.


The amount of regulatory assets under management is $3.25 billion for 3 clients. 33% of the firm’s clients are foreign persons or businesses.

Spark Investment Management also advises several private funds. Namely, one hedge fund.

Careers at Spark Investment Management LLC

The company employs 20 people that are either part- or full-time employees. 50 percent of the employees work as investment advisers or researchers. No employees are registered as investment adviser representatives with the state securities authorities.

There isn’t anyone with the role of looking for and bringing in new clients on behalf of the firm. The firm doesn’t compensate employees in addition to the salary for bringing in new clients. Employees don’t receive compensation from other entities for client referrals.

Direct owners and executive officers



Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
Peter Lawrence Laventhol Manager 1 Nov 2011 Other 1926518
Spark Management L.P. Member 1 Dec 2011 75% - 100% 158112
Glenn Elliot Dropkin Chief compliance officer 1 Jan 2012 Other 1405927
Spark Holdings Llc Member 1 Jun 2013 75% - 100% 90-0918219

Indirect Owners

The SEC currently registers 3 indirect owners.

Name Entity Date acquired Ownership Employer ID
Peter Lawrence Laventhol Limited partner 1 May 1995 75% - 100% 1926518
Spark Management Inc. General partner 1 May 1995 Other 13-3833120
Peter Lawrence Laventhol Member manager 1 Jun 2013 75% - 100% 1926518

Based in New York

The principal office where Spark Investment Management LLC performs its advisory services is located at 150 East 58 Th Street, New York, NY 10155 0002, which is also the mailing address of the firm. It doesn’t run an office outside of the United States.

You can reach the main office by calling the phone number 212-826-1900 or by fax 212-826-2069. The normal business hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Monday - Friday. You can find more information about the New York firm at sparkim.com.