OUR TEAM

CLARK CHENG, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clark-cheng-cfa-frm-caia-a411535/

​

Clark Cheng, CFA, FRM, CAIA joined Merrimac in 2014 and is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. Merrimac is a large single family office with investments in hedge funds, private equity, venture capital and real estate. Prior to Merrimac, he was responsible for leading the alternative investment team in the Americas for HSBC’s Alternative Investment Group which had $60B in assets at its peak. Before joining HSBC, he performed hedge fund research at Guggenheim Partners and Morgan Stanley between 2002 and 2005.  Prior to that, he spent six years building and establishing West Coast Economics. Mr. Cheng holds the Chartered Financial Analyst, Financial Risk Manager and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Duke University and a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Business/Economics and Psychology from UCLA. He has also completed his coursework towards his Masters Degree in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles.

ANTHONY TORNAMBE

Chief Financial Officer

Anthony Tornambe joined Merrimac as CFO in 2013. Prior to joining Merrimac, he held the title of Financial Reporting Manager at a prestigious family office for 7 years in New York City. Before his time in the family office space, Anthony was in charge of hedge fund reconciliations for a hedge fund/broker dealer. In addition to his time in the hedge fund/broker dealer space, he managed a team at SS&C Advent. Anthony earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics at The Ohio State University.

BEN WRIGHT

General Counsel and Head of Tax

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wright-4a60466/

​

Ben Wright, J.D., LL.M., joined Merrimac Corporation as General Counsel and Tax Director in July 2021.  Prior to joining Merrimac, Ben spent nearly 11 years in the Private Client Services practice at EY.  While there Ben focused on providing tax advice and compliance services to individuals, family offices, and fiduciaries with multi-national and cross-border issues. Ben worked with the team at Merrimac as a client server for two years prior to joining full-time.  Ben has spoken on topics such as taxation of foreign trusts, FATCA/CRS implementation, and US tax reporting for non-US assets at conferences such as the American Bar Association Spring Meeting and the Thompson Reuters Synergy Conference. He is also co-author of a chapter of the ABA’s A Guide to International Estate Planning, Second Edition (2014).  Prior to joining EY, Ben had been an associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and KPMG LLP.  Ben has a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, a J.D. from The Ohio State University and a LL.M. from Northwestern University.

ILKKA ANHAVA, CFA, FRM

Director of Investments

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilkka-anhava-b76347122

​

Ilkka Anhava joined Merrimac in May 2020 as Managing Director, Director of Investments. Prior to assuming this role, Ilkka served as Head of Hedge Fund Research for HSBC Global Asset Management in the Americas from October 2014 onwards. Previously, Ilkka worked as a hedge fund analyst on the team in New York starting January 2007. Prior to that, he worked for HSBC in due diligence and investment advisory roles in London and Geneva. Ilkka received his MBA degree from Columbia Business School with Dean’s Graduation Honors and a MSc degree in Economics from Aalto University School of Business where he was nominated for the inclusion in the Dean’s List. Prior to commencing his undergraduate studies, Ilkka led a combat engineer platoon in the Finnish Defense Forces, in which he holds the rank of second lieutenant. Ilkka is a CFA, FRM and CAIA charterholder.