Founder and Portfolio Manager
Before founding Brail Capital in 2020, Mr. Brail was a Portfolio Manager at HRS Management, the family office investment firm ofJosh Harris of Apollo Global Management from 2012 through 2019. At HRS, Mr. Brail managed a value-oriented equity portfolio in addition to overseeing Mr. Harris's outside investments both with Apollo and third-party managers and was part of an executive committee that advised Mr. Harris on overall asset allocation.
Prior to HRS, Mr. Brail was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Para Advisors from 2002 through 2012, a leading event-driven fund with
peak assets of $1.2 billion. In addition to his portfolio management responsibilities, Mr. Brail oversaw the business development and infrastructure of the firm and led the efforts that grew AUM from $225 million to $1.2 billion over five years.
Before Para, Mr. Brail founded and led Palestra Capital from 1996 through 2002, a boutique hedge fund focused on equity special
situations, merger arbitrage and distressed securities investing.
Mr. Brail started his career at Dickstein Partners, a merger arbitrage firm that expanded its focus to become one of the leading distressed securities investors in the early 1990’s where he became a Partner and Director of Research.
Mr. Brail has served as a director of several public companies, including Banyan Strategic Land Fund II, Amerihost Properties, New Dimensions in Medicine, and Hills Department
Stores. He has served on numerous creditors committees, including American Healthcare Management, Gaylord Container, First RepublicBank of Texas, and MEI Diversified.
Mr. Brail was a Contributing Columnist for the Street.com and RealMoney.com from 1998-2002, writing about investing in situations around complex corporate transactions. Recently, Mr. Brail advised a hedge fund on a corporate activist campaign that successfully concluded with the addition of two new
members on an insurance company's board of directors, without having to resort to a formal proxy fight.
Mr. Brail is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Science in Economics in 1987. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his wife, Julie, and their five children.