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Cimarron
Mark Jernigan established Cimarron in 2002 after a seventeen-year career on institutional trading desks, including Lehman Brothers and Halsey, Stuart &...
Cimarron
Mark Jernigan established Cimarron in 2002 after a seventeen-year career on institutional trading desks, including Lehman Brothers and Halsey, Stuart & Co., and a stint building a proprietary arbitrage model for U.S. Government Bond futures at Jernigan-Kinsella & Co. The Chicago-based firm operates as a fund-of-funds platform managed by 1207 Capital Group, LLC, a registered investment adviser, and targets niche strategies across life sciences, energy, and diversified relative-value credit and equity markets. The firm constructs concentrated portfolios from strategies it considers uncorrelated—avoiding broad-market directional bets in favor of exploiting pricing discrepancies between related securities. Confirmed strategy sleeves span life sciences and energy, reflecting a mandate that couples deep sector focus with relative-value discipline. Cimarron does not publicize individual portfolio company names or specific fund commitments; its materials emphasize manager selection in corners of the market where durable excess-return opportunities exist. A four-member Investment Committee steers allocations: Founder and Chairman Mark Jernigan, Chief Compliance Officer Clayton Jernigan, and members William Swee and Ron Schutz. Additional offices sit in Crested Butte, Colorado, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The firm has not disclosed total assets under management or employment headcount, and its LinkedIn presence is absent, reflecting a deliberately low-profile operating model. No adjacent philanthropic or operating-company vehicles are identified in public materials. The firm’s structural distinction lies in its insistence that underlying managers commit significant personal capital alongside external investors—a direct carryover from the founder’s exchange-floor background where every trade required personal financial alignment. That alignment premise, paired with a concentrated multi-strategy fund-of-funds structure, avoids dilution that comes from over-diversification while remaining a registered investment adviser under 1207 Capital Group.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2002
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
400 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
Additional offices
Crested Butte, CO · Santa Fe, NM
Principals
Mark Jernigan
Founder, Chairman of the Investment Committee
Clayton Jernigan
Member of the Investment Committee, Chief Compliance Officer
William Swee
Member of the Investment Committee
Ron Schutz
Member of the Investment Committee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Cimarron?
A four-member Investment Committee controls allocations. Founder and Chairman Mark Jernigan leads the group alongside Clayton Jernigan, William Swee, and Ron Schutz. All four have been with the firm for over a decade, and each is disclosed on the firm's website.
How does Cimarron source managers?
Cimarron targets managers with demonstrated expertise in niche corners of global credit and equity markets. The firm emphasizes alignment of interests, requiring underlying managers to have personal capital invested alongside client funds. Specific sourcing channels are not publicly disclosed.
Is Cimarron structured as a single family office or a fund-of-funds?
Cimarron is an asset manager that operates as a multi-strategy fund-of-funds platform. The funds themselves are managed by 1207 Capital Group, LLC, a registered investment adviser. It is not a family office.
Does Cimarron participate in direct deals or only fund commitments?
Cimarron primarily invests through commitments to external managers running concentrated strategies. The firm's public materials describe providing investors with exposure to niche strategies rather than conducting direct company investments.
Which sectors does Cimarron explicitly target?
The firm’s website tags three strategy areas: Life Sciences, Energy, and a diversified relative-value bucket spanning global credit and equity markets. Within those lanes, it seeks managers exploiting pricing discrepancies between related securities.
Where does Cimarron operate geographically?
The firm maintains offices in Chicago, Illinois; Crested Butte, Colorado; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Its investment mandate spans global credit and equity markets without geographic restriction disclosed.
Does Cimarron disclose its assets under management?
No. Cimarron does not publish an AUM figure on its website or in its available materials. Any estimate would require regulatory-filing analysis or direct confirmation from the firm.
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