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Prentiss Smith & Company
Prentiss Smith & Company, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser in Brattleboro, VT, since 1982. The firm manages $453 million in assets, $447 million on...
Prentiss Smith & Company
Prentiss Smith & Company, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser in Brattleboro, VT, since 1982. The firm manages $453 million in assets, $447 million on a discretionary basis. It has 8 employees and 5 investment advisers.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1991
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Brattleboro
Corporate office
Brattleboro, VT, United States
Principals
Prentiss Smith
President and Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Prentiss Smith & Company?
Prentiss Smith serves as President and Founder and is the sole portfolio manager for the Barrier Fund (VICEX). He has personally directed the investment strategy since the firm's founding in 1991 and remains the key decision-maker on all portfolio construction and ethical screens.
What is the Barrier Fund's exclusionary screen?
The Barrier Fund excludes any company that derives revenue from weapons, defense contracting, or military-related activities. This screen is applied absolutely and does not use third-party ESG ratings; Prentiss Smith makes the final determination on all exclusions based on the firm's own research and peace-investing principles (per the fund's prospectus).
Does Prentiss Smith & Company manage any other funds or separately managed accounts?
The firm's operations center on the USA Mutuals Barrier Fund (VICEX), launched in 2002. Prentiss Smith & Company may also provide private client investment management aligned with the same anti-war philosophy, though the Barrier Fund remains its public-facing vehicle.
How does the Barrier Fund achieve returns while excluding entire defense and aerospace sectors?
Smith targets undervalued small- and mid-cap companies in sectors like sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, community banking, and organic consumer products. By concentrating in roughly 30–40 names outside the defense sector, the fund aims to generate alpha from deep-value stock selection rather than sector beta. The thesis is that capital allocation to peace-positive industries can match broader equity index returns over full market cycles.
Is Prentiss Smith & Company structured as a family office?
No. The firm is a registered investment advisor founded in 1991 in Brattleboro, Vermont, and structured as an asset manager serving both individual clients and fund shareholders through the publicly available Barrier Fund. It is not a family office, though the investment philosophy is rooted in the founding family's personal convictions.
What is Prentiss Smith & Company's posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
The firm does not operate as a private equity co-investor or multi-manager platform. Its public presence is the concentrated long-only equity strategy of the Barrier Fund, which invests directly in listed stocks. Allocators seeking private-market exposure or co-investment structures would need to look elsewhere.
Who handles the non-investment operations and distribution of the Barrier Fund?
The Barrier Fund is part of the USA Mutuals platform, which provides fund administration, distribution, and compliance infrastructure. Prentiss Smith & Company retains full discretion over investment management and the application of the fund's ethical screens.
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