How Dan Chung Rebuilt Fred Alger Management into a $47 Billion Tech-Focused Investment House

Quarter-century after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks devastated its headquarters, investment management firm Fred Alger Management has grown its total assets under management to more than $47 billion, buoyed by aggressive allocations in technology and artificial intelligence, first reported by CNBC Business.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Daniel Chung, then a technology analyst at the firm, was attending an off-site corporate presentation in midtown Manhattan when American Airlines Flight 11 struck One World Trade Center. Alger operated its main offices on the 93rd floor of the North Tower. The attack killed 35 employees, including chief executive David Alger. In the aftermath, founder Fred Alger emerged from retirement to appoint Chung, the firm's most senior surviving investment professional, as chief investment officer.

The firm managed to resume trading operations by Sept. 13 due to disaster contingency plans created by chief technology officer Michael Howell, who also died in the attacks. Howell had established a fully operational backup facility in Morristown, New Jersey, equipped with duplicate trading infrastructure, client account records, and proprietary investment models, allowing the firm to quickly re-engage with clients and securities regulators.

To reconstruct the investment staff, Chung avoided hiring external star managers. Instead, the Harvard Law graduate and former Supreme Court clerk recruited former Alger analysts and portfolio managers, including Teresa McRoberts, David Hyun, and Jill Greenwald. The strategy was intended to maintain the firm's core investment approach, established in 1964, which targets companies demonstrating accelerating revenue growth rather than traditional value metrics.

Under Chung's leadership as CEO and CIO, the firm's growth-focused strategy has delivered strong returns. Its flagship $4.5 billion Alger Spectra Fund (SPECX) finished in the top 2% of its Morningstar category in 2024 and the top 4% last year. The fund also holds a top-quartile performance ranking over three-, five-, and 10-year horizons.

A primary driver of recent performance has been Chung's conviction in the expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Chung has dismissed concerns regarding potential data center oversupply or an emerging valuation bubble, asserting that the sector currently faces a shortage of raw computing power. He noted that the present AI investment cycle resembles the early adoption phase of 1995 rather than the late-stage dot-com environment of 1999.

As of June, graphics processing unit manufacturer Nvidia accounted for 14% of the Spectra fund's holdings. The firm has also established major positions in cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike, memory chip manufacturers Western Digital and Micron, and neocloud operator Nebius Group. Nebius Group stands as a top 10 holding in the Spectra fund after its stock value nearly tripled this year.

In memory of the 35 staff members lost in 2001, the firm established the Alger 35 ETF, a gold-rated fund by Morningstar that holds 35 of the firm's highest-conviction stock selections. A portion of the management fees generated by the fund is directed to charitable causes honoring David Alger and his late colleagues.