Catalio Capital Management, a prominent investment firm with a strong focus on the healthcare and life sciences sectors, is undertaking a significant expansion of its leadership team. The firm, which oversees approximately $2.3 billion in assets, has announced the appointment of Ajay Mantha as a partner within its hedge fund division, Catalio Public Equities. According to a note distributed to investors and obtained by Business Insider, this addition reflects the firm’s ongoing commitment to deepen its expertise in public market healthcare investments and further reinforce its position among leading specialized investment managers.
Mantha brings extensive experience from a series of high-profile roles in the investment industry, each marked by a strong focus on healthcare equities. Most recently, he served as an executive at Zimmer Partners, a well-known New York–based hedge fund recognized for its stock-picking acumen. During his tenure there, Mantha not only established but also led the healthcare investment group, shaping its research agenda and investment strategies. His professional background also includes nearly a decade at Bain Capital’s public equities arm, where he headed the healthcare sector group and guided the firm’s approach to identifying growth opportunities across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare services. Earlier in his career, Mantha gained valuable analytical and strategic expertise through roles at D.E. Shaw, where he worked as an analyst, and at the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he advised clients on complex business and operational challenges.
The investor note further indicates that Mantha will officially begin his tenure with Catalio next year. In his new capacity, he will report directly to Ben Snedeker, who currently serves as head of public equities at the firm. Snedeker himself has a deep professional history in healthcare investing, having been a senior investor at HealthCor Management prior to its acquisition by Catalio. When approached for comment regarding Mantha’s appointment, a representative for Catalio declined to provide additional details at this time.
Catalio’s hedge fund, which currently manages roughly $900 million, has experienced strong growth and performance momentum, aided in part by a recent infusion of capital from the global investment firm Brevan Howard. According to an individual familiar with the matter, the fund has gained nearly 16% so far this year—a compelling achievement that significantly outpaces the average hedge fund return of approximately 9.9%. Since early 2023, when the vehicle underwent a rebranding under the Catalio name, it has generated an impressive cumulative return of about 55%, highlighting both the team’s skill in stock selection and the strength of its thematic focus on healthcare innovation.
Catalio Capital was originally founded by George Petrocheilos and Jacob Vogelstein, two investors with a long-standing interest in driving technological and scientific progress within healthcare and biotechnology. Initially, the firm concentrated on private market investments, providing growth capital to high-potential ventures in nascent sectors of medical science and biotech innovation. However, its scope widened considerably toward the end of 2022, when Catalio acquired HealthCor Management, a well-established stock-picking hedge fund launched in 2005 by former SAC Capital professionals Art Cohen and Joe Healey. Following the merger, HealthCor’s operations and investment mandates were fully integrated under the Catalio umbrella, though its leadership continuity was preserved through the ongoing oversight of Ben Snedeker, who had invested on behalf of HealthCor for four years prior to the acquisition.
Catalio’s ascendancy has been further strengthened by an impressive roster of institutional and individual backers. Among its most prominent supporters is the global private equity powerhouse KKR, whose partnership underscores Catalio’s credibility within the financial ecosystem. In addition, Brevan Howard recently allocated $200 million to Catalio’s hedge fund through a separately managed account, as reported earlier this month by Reuters. Beyond institutional partnerships, a number of notable financiers have also invested personally in the firm, including Orlando Bravo, the founder of Thoma Bravo, and Glenn Dubin, the co-founder of Highbridge Capital. Their involvement serves as both an endorsement of Catalio’s investment capabilities and an affirmation of its leadership in the evolving intersection of healthcare, biotechnology, and financial innovation.
Through this new appointment and continued backing from distinguished partners, Catalio Capital Management appears poised to solidify its reputation as a premier healthcare investment platform, adeptly balancing private and public market expertise to generate returns and foster innovation across the sector.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/catalio-capital-hires-new-partner-from-zimmer-bain-capital-2025-11
