It retains a Below Average Parent rating.
Third Avenue is an investment boutique rooted in contrarian, value-oriented investing. A former team's mismanagement of its focused credit fund in 2015 and its resulting liquidation cast a shadow over the firm for years. The liquidation process finalized in 2018, and the firm has made prudent changes since. New and some remaining executives and portfolio managers reinvigorated the investment culture by refocusing on Third Avenue's core equity strategies and revamped the leadership structure. A three-person management committee of senior investment team members now guides the firm, and an operating committee oversees day-to-day activities. The committees have cut costs but have also invested in the firm; for example, they added an existing international real estate fund and its experienced manager to the platform.
Although better positioned, the firm continues to grapple with turnover. Since 2020, its lean investment team lost three analysts and two portfolio managers. Plus, the firm's chief operating and risk officer Mark Aaron left in July 2022. As its strategies have yet to garner steady inflows, the firm's asset base stands at $1.2 billion, down from $8.0 billion before the credit fund shut down.