Strategy
Business Principles
Efficiency & Attention to Detail
At the heart of Blacktree's investment success stands our emphasis on efficiency and attention to detail in every project. In evaluating potential deals, Blacktree scours companies for waste and growth opportunities, which means gutting inefficiencies, implementing new efficiencies and solutions, and relies entirely on an obsession with every detail of a business. No detail is below an executives paygrade; Blacktree managing partners have been known to question architectural contractors on whether they used hollow or solid wood doors, how much they paid per square inch on tiling, and what brand sinks they installed. As Mr. Schwarzbaum is fond of saying, "Small expenses add up to big losses."
Blacktree begins measuring hard cost efficiency by analyzing capacity and utilization in equipment and personnel and right-sizing as such. But we also carefully assess soft cost efficiency in equity and debt structures, tax structures, and even delving into sales and marketing plans to identify potential savings opportunities.
Structured Finance as a Competitive Advantage
Blacktree's investment team comes from the complex and often overlooked world of structured finance. Many view structured finance teams as another group of overbilling professionals technically necessary to close a deal but largely irrelevant to the core investment and business proposition. It is Blacktree's strong position that our many years of experience and unparalleld expertise in structured finance is not an ancillary tool to finalize deals but rather a core source of our competitive investment prowess. Our team leverages the ability to produce complex financial structures to create opportunities where others would see none and to amplify those profits obvious on the surface. It is this unique expertise that puts us head and shoulders over all other investment firms, enabling better deal identification, higher performing investments, and greater profits realized by our clients.
Advanced Technology & IP
The Blacktree Investments team believes strongly in the power of advanced technology and proprietary intellectual property as differentiating factors in the marketplace. When evaluating any investment, Blacktree always takes into consideration the company's IP and its potential hidden value. As important, Blacktree analyzes processes and products at every investment and, with its network of industry experts, implemetns new technologies to change the competitive landscape. Mr. Schwarzbaum often reminds analysts that, "20 years of experience is one year of experience and 19 years doing the same thing; an open mind and keen intellect will bring more innovation than any number of years doing things the wrong way."