Meet Ben Fulton of Elkhorn Investments in Western Suburbs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Fulton.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up on a successful Fruit and Vegetable farm near Dayton, Ohio. The turning point for me occurred when I left the farm to go to college, Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. For most students at Taylor, they viewed it has a great school in the middle of four cornfields, I saw it as the most populated place I had ever lived! My views of my future began to change from hating summer because I worked sun up to sun down 7 days a week until the relief of attending school again in the fall, to experiencing new friends who worked 40 to 50 hours a week and enjoyed their summers. That one key factor took me to the Chicago eventually to pursue the suburb lifestyle.

In 1986, I was licensed and moved to Chicago to work as a Stockbroker (not a financial advisor!), with firms such as Oppenheimer, Thomson McKinnon and last Bear Stearns. By 1990, I created my own Commodity Trading Advisor, called Fulton Futures Management. I quickly realized that I enjoyed the art of creating the new investment structure more than the day to day management of the portfolio. This led me to join First Trust (Nike Securities back then) in their Product Development team. My career quickly blossomed as I successfully brought in Lehman Brothers and other outside research firms to form new investment ideas. The only issue was that I preferred being an owner over being just a W-2 employee, and First Trust, at that time, had no solution to that issue. So I left with two partners, Bruce Bond and Dave Hooten, to join Nuveen as a Managing Director of Product Development with a creative structure that rewarded us for growing revenue, which we did! For three years we changed the landscape of Nuveen by organically growing AUM and assisting in identifying target acquisition candidates.

I spent nearly a decade at Powershares where we grew from a little over $100 Million to over $85 Billion during that timeframe. The last half of my tenure, after Bruce retired, I stepped in as the Global Head of ETFs for Invesco. This was an incredible opportunity to grow professionally and to broaden my Rolodex of global ETF contacts. Once I realized that I was no longer building solutions but instead managing the internal discussions about ETFs solely, I knew it was time for me to move on. So in 2013 I left Powershares and formed Elkhorn Investments with several Powershares colleagues. We brought in Barclays as a strategic partner in 2015 and we announced this summer that Veracen will be acquiring Elkhorn as their passive investment arm.

Time will tell whether Elkhorn is my final chapter, or just another chapter in my adventure in the Financial Investment World.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has always been an adventure, but definitely not a smooth road.

On the success side, it comes easy when it occurs. I have launched over 25 investment products that have surpassed $1 Billion in assets, and all of them were easier than they should have been. Like rolling downhill.

More time has been spent on the struggle side though. Financial revenue and capital needs have shadowed my times at First Trust, Claymore, Powershares and Elkhorn. Eventually most turned the corner though but only after many restless nights of prayer and tough decisions to downsize when you really wanted to expand. The last year for example at Elkhorn has been a really tough one. We have had some success with early products but closing on a deal to strategically align our firm with another has been harder than ever anticipated. Thankfully, I have had long-suffering partners in my incredible wife, employees and investors. Hopefully, we are about through this phase of the firm though, but you need to embrace it as an entrepreneur.

It always takes more money and time than expected….but then sometimes the wheels of success turn your way and you enjoy the coasting of easy success.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
My current business is Elkhorn Investments, we specialize in delivering index based investment strategies to the advisors we serve. Our primary investment structure we utilize is the Exchange Traded Fund (“ETF”) structure. I am viewed as one of the founders or “Grandfathers” of this industry. I have over 20 years experience building ETFs.

We named Elkhorn after the Elkhorn Divide, near our second home in the Park City, Utah area. We wanted a name that expanded beyond what Wall Street delivers and provided a sense of Rugged Americana. We have held successful events in Park City with top Advisors and ETF Strategist to help indoctrinate them in the Elkhorn Way. This means honoring God and Family, Skiing and Great Whiskey!! Oh yeah, and great investment ideas!!

What were you like growing up?
I was the 4th of 5 children, but selected at an early age to be the “Businessman” for the farm. So becoming an entrepreneur was really anointed on me from an early age. I ran my first crews and had my own pickup at age 12…tried to stay off roads and use farm lanes when possible. I have always been a problem solver and dreamer. I love living at 35,000 feet but can be detailed when needed. I prefer surrounding myself with detail people…even if I sometimes want to choke them for being to in the box. Anyone that knows me knows that I way overuse analogies…because a picture, even in the mind, is worth a thousand words. School came very easy and I loved striving to be best or top on tests…not so much on homework though. Starting new businesses is the ultimate competitive sport, you get to go out and adapt and change to win! I have always loved to hunt, ski and be outside in the mountains with my family. My favorite memories of childhood was deer hunting with my dad, in the woods, dreaming of what might be.

Contact Info:

• Address: January: 845 West Washington, West Loop of Chicago
• Website: www.elkhorn.com
• Phone: 630-384-8714
• Email: bfulton@elkhorn.com
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bfulton224/

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