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Primary Responsibilities

Managing a boutique innovation-focused, concentrated-growth firm is Tom’s passion and overall responsibility, all in the pursuit of connecting clients to leading innovative businesses with the potential to drive wealth creation over the long term. This is Tom’s primary mission.

To accomplish this mission, Tom works with Erin Price (Director of Operations) to make sure the firm has institutional-class infrastructure and resources, and he spends most of his time working with the Investment Team as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) to oversee the research effort and identify quality investments for client portfolios. In addition to managing the business and the investment strategy, Tom and his team are always looking for ways to provide clients with long-term perspective, thought leadership, and beyond-the-call-of-duty service.

Thomas Ricketts, CFA

President & CIO
Portfolio Manager
Primary Responsibilities

Managing a boutique innovation-focused, concentrated-growth firm is Tom’s passion and overall responsibility, all in the pursuit of connecting clients to leading innovative businesses with the potential to drive wealth creation over the long term. This is Tom’s primary mission.

To accomplish this mission, Tom works with Erin Price (Director of Operations) to make sure the firm has institutional-class infrastructure and resources, and he spends most of his time working with the Investment Team as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) to oversee the research effort and identify quality investments for client portfolios. In addition to managing the business and the investment strategy, Tom and his team are always looking for ways to provide clients with long-term perspective, thought leadership, and beyond-the-call-of-duty service.

Biography

Thomas Ricketts, CFA, founder of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management, serves as Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager, and Research Analyst. Over his 25+ year investment career, has developed significant expertise in portfolio management, investment research, and executive management. Prior to founding Evolutionary Tree, Mr. Ricketts was a Sr. Portfolio Manager on Sands Capital’s flagship Select Growth strategy, a $20+ billion concentrated strategy of high-quality, sustainable growth businesses. Mr. Ricketts was one of the longest-tenured investment professionals at Sands Capital. Over the years, he contributed to building and leading the research team and attracting and retaining a broad client base of institutional and high-net-worth clients. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia (1994), his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation (1997), and an Advanced Certificate for Executives from the MIT Sloan School of Management (2016- 2017). 

Mr. Ricketts joined Sands Capital in 1994 as the Assistant to the President. He worked closely with founder Frank Sands, Sr. during the startup phase and early years of the firm, helping to grow the firm from less than $100 million in assets under management to approximately $40 billion in assets 22 years later. In 1997, Mr. Ricketts became a Research Analyst, and in 2001 he added additional Portfolio Manager duties. In 2008, Mr. Ricketts assumed the role of Sr. Portfolio Manager on the Sands US Large-Cap Growth strategy, working as a Co-PM to oversee the $20 billion strategy, and was a decision maker on that strategy for eight years. In 2011, Mr. Ricketts joined the Executive Management Team, which provides strategic leadership for the firm. In 2013, he became a member of the three-person Directing Research Team, which provided oversight of the 40-person investment team.

Throughout his investment career, has gained in-depth research and portfolio management experience across a broad array of growth equity investments and industries, including deep knowledge regarding healthcare, technology, consumer, and other growth industries, developing an ability to identify value-added investment opportunities.

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