The genesis of Blackthorn dates back to 1991 when Todd and Monty anchored a small team charged with the responsibility of creating and managing a proprietary asset management group at Koch Industries. Through the deliberate development and acquisition of specialized skills, this group extended its ability to profitably absorb risks across a broad range of financial products. Ultimately, this group grew exponentially in numbers and oversaw a vast array of relative value investment strategies within the fixed income and equity markets with investment professionals located across North America, Europe and Asia.

In early 1998, Todd and Monty recognized the opportunity to offer their expertise in building and managing relative value portfolios to a broader range of institutional and individual investors. Armed with a robust set of equity based relative value strategies and a modest amount of start-up capital, Blackthorn was launched.