Daniel Chung, the CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Fred Alger Management, narrowly escaped the devastating 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. By chance, the then-tech analyst was delayed, starting his day at a Midtown Manhattan hotel meeting instead of Alger's offices on the 93rd floor of One World Trade Center. When news broke of a plane hitting the towers, initial confusion turned to horror as the second plane struck, silencing the room. Cell phones failed, and desperate calls to lower Manhattan went unanswered.
Leaving the hotel, Chung witnessed a scene of frozen disbelief as smoke engulfed lower Manhattan. He spent the rest of the day with colleagues, fanning out across city hospitals with photos of co-workers, anxiously awaiting survivors that never arrived. He returned home to Brooklyn long after midnight, later learning that 35 of his colleagues, including then-CEO David Alger, had perished.
In the immediate aftermath, Chung was named Alger’s chief investment officer, the most senior of the survivors. Founder Fred Alger, Chung's father-in-law, tasked him with the monumental job of rebuilding the firm. Thanks to the foresight of Chief Technology Officer Michael Howell, who died on 9/11, a backup recovery center in Morristown, New Jersey, allowed Alger to resume operations within days, with client records and proprietary models intact.
Against the advice of consultants, Chung chose to rebuild by honoring Alger's unique philosophy and culture. He sought out successful alumni who had trained at the firm, rather than poaching external stars. Many answered the call, including Teresa McRoberts, David Hyun, and Jill Greenwald, who joined to help resurrect the spirit of Alger.
Fred Alger was renowned for his growth-oriented investing style, focusing on companies experiencing "positive dynamic change." This philosophy, which led Alger to early investments in giants like Intel, Apple, and Microsoft, continues to guide Chung today. Currently, Alger is aggressively bullish on the artificial intelligence trade, seeing it as the early stages of a decade-long growth cycle, akin to 1995 rather than 1999.
Nvidia is now the flagship Alger Spectra Fund's top holding, representing 14% of assets, with Chung anticipating a return to higher price-to-earnings ratios. Other high-conviction AI bets include cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, chipmakers Western Digital and Micron, and neocloud company Nebius Group, a top 10 holding that has nearly tripled this year.
Alger's recovery from 9/11 also instilled a deep commitment to charitable giving, exemplified by the Alger 35 ETF. This fund, comprising 35 high-conviction investment ideas in honor of the lost colleagues, donates a portion of its management fees to charity. Despite current global uncertainties, Chung maintains an optimistic outlook, reflecting on New York's, America's, and Alger's resilience. He firmly believes in the enduring "good in this world" and in people, institutions, and the country's capacity to persevere and recover.
