Bracebridge Capital
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Nancy Zimmerman Gabriel Sunshine |
| Headquarters | 15th floor, 888 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts , |
Key people | John Spinney (chief operating officer) Kirstan Barnett (general counsel & chief compliance officer) Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine (senior counsel) Wendy Sheu (Chief Compliance Officer) |
| Total assets | $71.8 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | 150+ |
| Website | bracebridgecapital.com |
Bracebridge Capital is a hedge fund based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was co-founded by Nancy Zimmerman and Gabriel Sunshine.[1] It manages funds from the endowments of Yale University and Princeton University. It also made $1.5 billion from the Argentine debt restructuring. As of February 2016, it had $10.3 billion of assets under management, making it the largest hedge fund managed by a woman in the world. Sunshine owns a 5% stake in Bracebridge as of 2017.[2] As of March 2023, Bracebridge Capital had $71.8 billion of assets under management.[3]
History
Bracebridge Capital was co-founded by Nancy Zimmerman and Gabriel Brendan Sunshine in 1994.[4] Zimmerman is a Brown alumna, former Goldman Sachs employee, and the wife of Harvard professor Andrei Shleifer.[5][6]
Sunshine is a Harvard graduate, class of 1991, and the husband of Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine,[7] the co-chair of the Harvard College Fund,[8] who is also senior counsel to Bracebridge Capital.[9][10] Its chief operating officer is John Spinney.
The fund had a 10% annual return from 1994 to 2016.[5] Initially, it received $50 million from Tom Steyer's Farallon Capital and David F. Swensen, who runs Yale University's endowment.[5] Later, Andrew K. Golden, the manager of Princeton University's endowment, also became a major investor in Bracebridge Capital.[5] By 2012, it had $5.8 billion of assets under management.[5]
By February 2016, it had assets of $10.3 billion,[11] making it the largest hedge fund managed by a woman in the world.[5] It also had more than 100 employees by February 2016.[5]
In March 2016, it was announced that the firm would receive $1.5 billion from the Argentine debt restructuring.[12] It was one of four hedge funds which former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called "vultures” and “financial terrorists."[13]
In April 2025, Bracebridge Capital was named among the lenders providing debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to Hooters of America during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. According to Bloomberg, the restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy with plans to restructure approximately $300 million in asset-backed bonds tied to its franchise operations. Bracebridge contributed to a $40 million DIP loan package, which included $35 million in new capital aimed at supporting the company’s operations during the reorganization process.[14][15]
In October 2025, Global Witness reported that Bracebridge Capital was involved in shaping the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a $125 billion initiative to finance tropical forest conservation through market-based investments. The firm helped design financial structures for the initiative, which drew scrutiny from environmental groups over the role of private asset managers in global forest policy.[16]
References
- ^ "Gabriel Sunshine". www.hks.harvard.edu. Harvard Kennedy School. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Gabriel Brendan Sunshine - Bracebridge Capital, LLC". Private Fund Data. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Why Bracebridge Capital: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio". Growth Equity Interview Guide. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
- ^ "Company Overview of Bracebridge Capital, LLC". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Moroney, Tom; Willmer, Sabrina (February 4, 2016). "The Secretive Hedge Fund That's Generating Huge Profits for Yale". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "2016 America's Self-Made Women: #46 Nancy Zimmerman". Forbes. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine, JD, MPP". Massachusetts General Hospital. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Lewis, Loida Nicolas (26 November 2018). "Meet the first Fil-Am elected to Harvard overseers board". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "I Choose Harvard: Geraldine Acuna '92". Harvard Alumni Association. Harvard University. January 2, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "HCF Executive Committee". Harvard College Alumni. Harvard University. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "Nancy Zimmerman". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
- ^ Stevenson, Alexandra (March 1, 2016). "Argentina's Hedge Fund Deal Frustrates Small Bondholders". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
Bracebridge Capital, another holdout hedge fund, will be paid $1.15 billion, representing a 952 percent return on bonds with principal worth $120 million, according to the data.
- ^ Gilbert, Jonathan; Stevenson, Alexandra (February 29, 2016). "Argentina Reaches Deal With Hedge Funds Over Debt". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
The four holdout firms, including Aurelius, a hedge fund run by Mark Brodsky, a former trader at Mr. Singer's Elliott Management; Davidson Kempner; and Bracebridge Capital, have agreed not to try to prevent Argentina from raising new money, which it will need to do in order to pay the settlements it has made.
- ^ Basu, Reshmi; Arroyo, Carmen (2025-04-01). "Bracebridge Capital to Provide Bankruptcy Loan to Hooters". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
- ^ Ma, Dorothy (2025-04-02). "Court Approves Hooters' Bankruptcy Funding Plan". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
- ^ Bindman, Polly (2025-10-09). "Banking on forests: Inside private sector plans to shape the Tropical Forests Forever Facility". Global Witness. Retrieved 2025-12-07.