Tress Capital: Forward Thinking In Cannabis Investment Management
Tress Capital, co-founded by Asher Troppe and David Hess, is paving the way with institutional-grade fund management for HNW & Institutional investors. With an embedded industry network, proprietary deal-flow, and experienced team with niche expertise, Tress is a highly compelling home for sophisticated investors unwilling to compromise when it comes to competence, access, and values in cannabis investing. The firm provides diversified one-off access to best of breed opportunities in the space. With a top-tier independent auditor, third-party administrator, and a compliance advisor with SEC experience, they take investor comfort and trust seriously.
They’ve also introduced environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations into their business thinking. Built on the idea of doing good while doing well, the firm devotes resources to philanthropy and its principals participate in local community services in their personal time.
We asked Tress a few questions and here’s what they had to say:
Describe Tress in one sentence:
Tress Capital is an institutional-grade U.S. based private fund management firm embedded in and focused solely on the cannabis sector.
Where do you see Tress Capital down the road?
Doing the same thing we’re doing today: thinking forward, informed by exposure to great people. Our goal is simply to maintain a significant and trusted seat at the table among industry leadership from both the perspective of investment management and that of the industry, and that can only be achieved by being authentic. Our hope is to look back and find that we have added significant economic and social value.
What is the biggest challenge in U.S. cannabis now?
The federal / state dichotomy remains the overlying challenge. However, in our view, that has created a major artificial inefficiency in the market, which to us means opportunity. It has also helped to pace industry growth.
What can other companies in the cannabis space learn from Tress Capital?
We believe the good fortune of industry stakeholders to be part of this generational buildout creates an imperative to self-impose a double-standard when it comes to pretty much everything we do; ethics, diligence, regulatory compliance, infrastructure, education, transparency, and service to our communities and the disadvantaged. These are the right things to do, will further our cause, and they send a positive message to industry observers and prospective investors. We encourage others to adopt similar principles.
What is the single most important takeaway for prospective investors placing capital?
The initial infrastructure buildout stage will only come around once, so it’s important to execute, diversify exposure, and to get it right the first time. Thus, working with managers who have demonstrated a commitment to and capability of doing the same, is paramount.
