Ben Hart
Ben is an analyst on the Acacia team.
Ben has worked as an analyst in various segments of the market. He started his career covering microcap and energy companies at Advisory Research, Inc. and then life sciences venture capital companies at Walter Grenblatt & Associates. Ben then joined Haverford Trust, where he covered large cap equities before becoming a Portfolio Manager for a multi-cap value fund. He then spent five years as co-Portfolio Manager on a global equity fund at Glenville Capital Management before joining Ruane Cunniff in 2022.
Ben graduated from Franklin & Marshall College, Cum Laude, with a BA in Business. Ben is a CFA charterholder.
What is rewarding about what you do?
If you're an innately curious person as I am, this line of work is a wonderful way to exercise that curiosity. I get to dive into subjects of deep interest to me while discovering new truths and discarding old judgements.
Best business advice
Back in college I found myself struggling through a paper. I was complaining about it to someone and it became apparent that I'd chosen the wrong topic. "Choose the right topic", she told me, "and the paper will write itself. Choose the wrong one and every word will be a slog." She encouraged me to spend more time upfront thinking about choosing the right topic. And this applies more broadly. Choose the right industry, the right business, and the right partners and life will flow a lot more smoothly.
What do you enjoy outside of work?
The tennis court is my happy place! I played competitively through college and still keep it up as best I can. Tennis is meditative and has taught me a lot about problem solving, continuous improvement, and resiliency.