Adam Blitz on the Fiftyfaces Podcast

Key Takeaways

• The hedge fund opportunity set is compelling — the environment strongly favors active management over passive.
• Deglobalization and rising dispersion, combined with less competition among fundamental stock pickers, create a white space for skilled managers in long/short equity and macro.
• Evaluating managers means looking beyond the polish to understand culture, motivation, and how firms evolve over time.

“There’s just a wider gap, we think, between winners and losers and an unusual level of complexity in terms of evaluating individual companies,” Evanston Capital CEO and Co-CIO Adam Blitz told the Fiftyfaces Podcast in a conversation with host Aoifinn Devitt recorded in late January 2026 and posted March 20th.

Fiftyfaces ​“showcases inspiring professionals in the world of investment and beyond” and previously hosted Evanston Capital Co-CIO Kristen VanGelder in August 2025.

In this wide-ranging interview, Blitz discussed the Hedge Fund Outlook, Evanston Capital’s approach to identifying investment talent, and the consistent philosophy that has shaped the firm since its founding.

A stock-picker’s white space

Evanston Capital is extremely constructive on the hedge fund opportunity set. Blitz described an environment where two powerful forces are converging: 

• On one side, dispersion among companies has expanded meaningfully, fueled by AI, tariffs, and geopolitical complexity.
• On the other, the growth of passive investing and the concentration of hedge fund assets in multi-strategy pod shops — which tend to be shorter term in nature — has thinned out the competition among fundamental stock pickers willing to absorb some short-term volatility on the way to a medium- or long-term view.

The result, Blitz said, is a white space where skilled long-short equity managers face less competition than at any point in nearly two decades.

Blitz was equally bullish on global macro, where he sees deglobalization as a structural trend leading to more varied economic conditions across countries — and correspondingly, a richer set of prospective trades. He drew a sharp contrast with the 2010s, when volatility was low and every country seemed to be doing quantitative easing. This decade, divergent policy paths, higher volatility, and geopolitical complexity have transformed the opportunity set — themes explored in depth in Evanston Capital’s 2026 Hedge Fund Outlook.

Looking beyond the polish

On manager evaluation, Blitz emphasized the soft side — culture, motivation, and how key people evolve over time, particularly after periods of success. A manager who has just earned a significant incentive fee is in a very different economic position, and Evanston Capital pays close attention to whether that changes their approach or their focus.

These assessments are not going to pop off the page from an exposure report or historical return statistics, Blitz noted. Rather, they require meeting managers frequently, in both formal and informal settings, to tease out what’s really driving the firm going forward.

Blitz extended the point to presentation skills, cautioning against the natural human tendency to be drawn to compelling presenters. Capital introduction teams have coached newer managers on how to tell their stories, and a sameness can come through. Evanston Capital’s job is to look through that. 

Blitz offered a sports analogy: the correlation between how smooth a coach’s opening press conference is and their ultimate success is not very high. ​“We’re not investing in people based on their presentation skills,” Blitz said. ​“We really try to look beyond the polish.”

For more on Blitz’s outlook and reflections — including his views on early-stage managers, the barriers to entry facing new hedge fund launches, and the leadership lessons of a 24-year career at Evanston Capital — listen to the full conversation on the Fiftyfaces Podcast.