D. Dixon Boardman

Vice Chairman

Dixon is Vice Chairman of FFT and President of Optima Asset Management, LLC, a related investment adviser subsidiary of FFT.  Given his experience and expertise in the hedge fund industry, Dixon is often quoted in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and other financial publications and makes frequent appearances on CNBC.

Prior to joining the firm, Dixon was the Chief Executive Officer of Optima Fund Management, LLC, a firm he founded in 1988.  Dixon was one of the early fund-of-funds innovators in the US, having launched Optima’s flagship fund in 1988.  He built the firm into one of the industry’s most well-respected businesses, with assets across a range of funds-of-funds, single manager hedge funds, and institutional multi-manager programs. 

Dixon has served as the Chairman of the Special Projects Committee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is currently a member of the President’s Council of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  He is also a member of the Executive Committee of New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Council.  He is a director of both Florida Crystals Corporation and Kadmon Corporation, and an Advisory Board Director of J.C. Bamford Excavators (UK).  Prior to forming Optima, he advised high net worth individuals, first as Senior Vice President at Kidder, Peabody, where he was one of 20 leading stockbrokers in the firm, and then at UBS PaineWebber where he was a member of the Chairman’s Council. 

Dixon attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.