Bracebridge Capital
Largest female-managed hedge fund globally
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bracebridge Capital is a hedge fund based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was co-founded by Nancy Zimmerman and Gabriel Sunshine.[1] It manages funds from the endowments of Yale University and Princeton University. It also made $1.5 billion from the Argentine debt restructuring. As of February 2016, it had $10.3 billion of assets under management, making it the largest hedge fund managed by a woman in the world. Sunshine owns a 5% stake in Bracebridge as of 2017.[2] As of March 2023, Bracebridge Capital had $71.8 billion of assets under management.[3]
Gabriel Sunshine
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Nancy Zimmerman Gabriel Sunshine |
| Headquarters | 15th floor, 888 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts , |
Key people | John Spinney (chief operating officer) Kirstan Barnett (general counsel & chief compliance officer) Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine (senior counsel) Wendy Sheu (Chief Compliance Officer) |
| Total assets | $71.8 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | 150+ |
| Website | bracebridgecapital.com |
History
Bracebridge Capital was co-founded by Nancy Zimmerman and Gabriel Brendan Sunshine in 1994.[4] Zimmerman is a Brown alumna, former Goldman Sachs employee, and the wife of Harvard professor Andrei Shleifer.[5][6]
Sunshine is a Harvard graduate, class of 1991, and the husband of Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine,[7] the co-chair of the Harvard College Fund,[8] who is also senior counsel to Bracebridge Capital.[9][10] Its chief operating officer is John Spinney.
The fund had a 10% annual return from 1994 to 2016.[5] Initially, it received $50 million from Tom Steyer's Farallon Capital and David F. Swensen, who runs Yale University's endowment.[5] Later, Andrew K. Golden, the manager of Princeton University's endowment, also became a major investor in Bracebridge Capital.[5] By 2012, it had $5.8 billion of assets under management.[5]
By February 2016, it had assets of $10.3 billion,[11] making it the largest hedge fund managed by a woman in the world.[5] It also had more than 100 employees by February 2016.[5]
In March 2016, it was announced that the firm would receive $1.5 billion from the Argentine debt restructuring.[12] It was one of four hedge funds which former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called "vultures” and “financial terrorists."[13]
In April 2025, Bracebridge Capital was named among the lenders providing debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to Hooters of America during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. According to Bloomberg, the restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy with plans to restructure approximately $300 million in asset-backed bonds tied to its franchise operations. Bracebridge contributed to a $40 million DIP loan package, which included $35 million in new capital aimed at supporting the company’s operations during the reorganization process.[14][15]
In October 2025, Global Witness reported that Bracebridge Capital was involved in shaping the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a $125 billion initiative to finance tropical forest conservation through market-based investments. The firm helped design financial structures for the initiative, which drew scrutiny from environmental groups over the role of private asset managers in global forest policy.[16]
