The inaugural Sohn Montreal Conference took place on May 28, 2025 and we have extensive coverage of the event. The agenda consisted of top hedge fund managers presenting investment ideas and discussing key trends in various markets, from global macro and sector-specific opportunities to building investment businesses in Quebec. Most pitches were stock ideas, while a few were macro or more entrepreneurial in nature.
UPDATE: 6/4/2025 12:00PM EST - Our entire 126 page report on the Sohn Montreal Conference can be found at the very bottom of this page in both plain vanilla and interactive PDF format. We hope you enjoy!
In tradition of the Sohn foundation, the Sohn Montreal Conference supports a great cause, with all proceeds from the event going to support two children's hospitals in Montreal: Sainte-Justine Hospital and The Montreal Children’s Hospital.
The format of this post is as follows. A summary of every pitch from the Sohn Montreal Conference can be found below. Additionally, links to a more in-depth article for each speaker can be found by each speaker. Finally, there is a plain vanilla PDF and interactive PDF of all our coverage from the Sohn Montreal Conference which can be found at the very bottom of this post.
Also see ideas from the Sohn Hong Kong Conference which took place on May 28th.
2025 Sohn Montreal Conference Speakers
- Wen Shi, PhD, CFA Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst, Wellington Management - See: Wen Shi Of Wellington Sees 2-3x Upside For This Pancreatic Cancer Leader
- Seth Fischer, Founder & CIO, Oasis Management - See: Oasis Capital's Seth Fischer Says Buy This Japanese Stock To Benefit From The Mall Apocalypse and our interview with Seth Fischer here.
- Suzanne Gibbons, Partner, Davidson Kempner Capital - See: Davidson Kempner's Suzanne Gibbons - Identifying Alpha Opportunities in Fragmented European Credit Markets
- Nancy Zimmerman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Bracebridge Capital - See: Bracebridge Capital's Nancy Zimmerman - Rethinking Portfolio Risk in Correlated Markets via Market-Neutral Strategies
- Dylan Haggart. Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, Fivespan Partners - See: FiveSpan Partners' Dylan Haggart - Realizing Private Market Discounts with Two High-Quality Opportunities
- Gavin Baker. Managing Partner & CIO, Atreides Management - See: Atreides Management's Gavin Baker - 3X Upside Riding the AI Inference Wave with a Dominant HBM Supplier
- Matt Botein, Managing Partner, Co-Founder of Gallatin Point Capital LLC - See: Gallatin Point’s Matt Botein – Unlocking 100%+ Upside via Structural Opportunity in Insurance
- Marc-Andre Soubliere, Senior VP Fixed Income and Absolute Return, Trans-Canada Capital - See: Trans-Canada Capital's Marc-Andre Soubliere - Executing a Contrarian US Rate Curve Flattening Trade
- Alex Duran, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager, Permian Investment Partners - See: Permian Investment Partners' Alex Duran - Targeting 400% Upside in a Biotech Turnaround Story
- Aaron Stern, Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer, Converium Capital - See: Converium Capital's Aaron Stern - Deep Value Bank With Clear Catalysts Could Double
- David Einhorn, President, Greenlight Capital - See: Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn - Navigating Market Disconnects Amid The Death Of Traditional Value Investing also see: Einhorn At Sohn Montreal: Public Shorting Is A Major Life Stress, Classic Value Investing No Longer Works
- Mario Therrien, Head of Investment Funds and External Management, CDPQ
- Investing in Our Future / Opportunities in Life Sciences - See: 2025 Sohn Montreal: Opportunities in Life Sciences
- Clarissa Desjardins, Founder & CEO, Congruence Therapeutics
- Lloyd M. Segal, President & CEO, Repare Therapeutics
- Moderated by Andre Perold, Partner and Chief Investment Officer, HighVista Strategies
- Investing in Our Province / Building a Global Asset Manager in Quebec - See: 2025 Sohn Montreal: Building a Global Asset Manager in Quebec
- Chris Arsenault, Partner, Inovia Capital
- Jean-Guy Desjardins, Chairman of the Board and Global Chief Executive Officer, Fiera Capital
- Tasso Lagios, CPA, Managing Partner, Richter LLP
- Francois Rivard, Chief Executive Officer, Innocap
- Adam Vigna, Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Sagard
- Moderated by Robert Lewin, Chief Financial Officer, KKR
- Investing in "The Game" / Investment Themes and Opportunities in Sports - See: 2025 Sohn Montreal: Investing in "The Game"
- Marc Lasry, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder, Avenue Capital Group
- David J. O’Connor, Managing Partner, Arctos Partners
- Nicole Musicco, CIO, Private Equity
- Moderated by Isabele Chevalier, Investor, Entrepreneur, Board Member, YPO, EEB Coach
Summary of the 2025 Sohn Montreal Conference
Seth Fischer, Founder & CEO, Oasis Management
Seth Fischer presented a unique investment idea focusing on the transformation of shopping malls. He noted that malls and department stores are dying due to the rise of online shopping. His idea centered on "Round One," a Japanese company providing entertainment like arcades, bowling, and sports activities. Round One is capitalizing on the decline of malls by targeting dying locations that need tenants, taking advantage of available space (like empty department stores) and existing security. This strategy allows them to secure cheap rent while bringing foot traffic back to the malls, which mall owners appreciate.
Round One has a market cap of $2.1 billion and is growing, with revenues split between Japan (~58%) and the U.S. (~42%). Fisher highlighted the founder, Masahiko Sugino, as a dynamic "wizard of growth" who is still engaged in the business, offering a value proposition combined with founder involvement. The company is expanding, planning 10 more locations in 2026. Their unique experience incorporates popular elements from Japan, such as claw machine designs and the use of anime IP (Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen), attracting an engaged customer base, particularly Gen Z. They also offer various entertainment options, food, and drinks, designed to appeal beyond just kids' parties.
In the U.S., they shifted from coin pricing to a card-based system, enabling dynamic pricing based on demand, which improves both revenue and customer experience. They currently have 57 U.S. stores and target growing to 200-300. A significant future driver is the "Delicious Project," which involves replicating high-end Japanese food courts in the U.S. with passionate chefs trained in Japan.... Fisher believes these food halls could double revenue and operating income. Based on modest valuation standards (currently ~2x revenue, ~7x EBITDA), he sees potential for 200% upside driven by the growth of the food court and dining-focused department store model.
Also see top ideas from the Sohn New York Conference which took place on May 14th.
Suzanne Gibbons, Partner, Davidson Kempner Capital
Suzanne Gibbons discussed macro trends and opportunities, specifically highlighting fragmented, less efficient markets in Europe as attractive for specialized investors. She noted a regime shift in the global economy and policy dispersion among central banks, creating opportunities. Despite U.S. equity and GDP outperformance over the past 25 years, driven by factors like higher productivity and less regulation, she found significant bottom-up opportunities in Europe. Europe was trading at a 100th percentile discount to the U.S. at the end of the previous year based on historical data.
Four characteristics create opportunity for credit investors in Europe: cheaper valuations leading to lower entry points and higher spreads, less institutional capital causing funding gaps, tighter bank regulations leading to retrenchment, and the potential to optimize European businesses for operational alpha. She highlighted that Europe trades at a 95th percentile equity discount to the U.S., with wider credit spreads in various markets since 2022, which are not explained by lower growth. The lower levels of household and institutional equity investment in Europe compared to the U.S., and the greater role of banks in corporate credit, create space for alternative capital providers.
Post-Eurozone crisis fragmentation reduced cross-border capital flows. Davidson Kempner focuses on Southern Europe, which is growing faster and is underbanked, offering strong pricing and documentation terms due to less capital competition. Gibbons also pointed out that private equity in Europe, while a smaller percentage of GDP than in the U.S., has outperformed U.S. private equity over the last 25 years, suggesting that fewer capital providers and operational alpha potential lead to better returns. She believes that investors who can offer bespoke hybrid capital solutions can fill major gaps, and tariff volatility may amplify bank retrenchment trends.
Nancy Zimmerman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Bracebridge Capital
Nancy Zimmerman challenged traditional portfolio construction assumptions, arguing that investors need to rethink the use of "risk-free" rates. Historically, portfolios like the 60/40 model assumed stocks and bonds were uncorrelated, but since 2022, stocks, bonds, and the U.S. dollar have become positively correlated, undermining traditional diversification benefits. She advocated for including diversified assets like market-neutral strategies that can offer smoother returns. Market-neutral portfolios profit from market inefficiencies and arbitrage opportunities, where the law of one price fails (e.g., persistent price differences for gold or yields on cross-currency bonds of the same issuer).
These dislocations can be caused by passive investment flows, regulatory segmentation, product structuring, habitat anomalies, and official sector actions (QE/QT). She noted that treasury inefficiencies are real and growing. Adding market-neutral strategies can enhance portfolio growth and help navigate uncertainty. Zimmerman cautioned that bonds may no longer provide traditional diversification, suggesting market-neutral and arbitrage solutions may be more resilient. She urged investors to be forward-looking, recognize structural changes, and act on inefficiencies, warning against assuming old correlations will hold.
Dylan Haggart, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, Fivespan Partners
Dylan Haggart described the current market as confusing, citing volatility and mentions of stagflation. His investment framework focuses on conviction, optionality, and realizable private market discounts. They look for high-quality companies with entrenched positions, strong recurring cash flows, and asymmetrical upside through self-help levers and discounts to private value. He presented two specific ideas:
QIAGEN (Life Sciences Tools Company): FiveSpan acquired a position during a dislocation. QIAGEN is a market leader with highly recurring revenue from low-cost consumables. Despite expected revenue growth above GDP, the stock was undervalued due to past issues like mixed M&A and inefficient capital deployment. Engagement with management has led to improvements, including accelerated profit targets and a dividend. The stock trades near the bottom of its sector range and at a discount to the broader market despite consistent growth expectations.
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