Charles J. Gradante

Charles J. Gradante (born July 30, 1945) is an Italian-American businessman in the hedge fund industry, appearing on television and before the United States Congress in that role.

[1][2][3] Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute's PensionDaily.com called Gradante "one of Wall Street's most sought after opinion leaders" for financial and economic areas.

[8] In 1986, Gradante left Citibank and became the assistant to the chairman of Drexel Burnham Lambert Ltd. in London, responsible for trading and sales.

[3] In 1995, Gradante became the co-director at the Hennessee Hedge Fund Advisory Group which was formed by Elizabeth “Lee” Hennessee-Gradante as a division of E. F. Hutton in 1987.

[22][23] In 1998, Charles Gradante was invited by the House of Representatives to explain the collapse of the Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund.

[25] Gradante believes that the New York Federal Reserve Bank acted swiftly and brilliantly in avoiding potential systemic risks.

[26] After the LTCM downturn, Gradante lobbied for increased transparency in the hedge fund industry on national television and in front of Congress.

In the wake of the GameStop short squeeze of 2021, Gradante spoke at a CorpGov event in Palm Beach where he discussed the standoff between retail investors and hedge funds and the resulting strain put on Robinhood, other large broker dealers and market makers.

Gradante's videos on the GameStop debacle, where he sided with retail investors, were viewed globally hundreds of thousands of times across various platforms.

[29][30] Gradante is one of Wall Street's most sought-after experts on matters of the stock market, the global economy, hedge fund strategy, and asset allocation.

[31][32][33] He has testified before the United States House of Representatives as a hedge fund industry expert discussing the systemic risk in the wake of long-term capital management.

[49][50][51] Gradante contributed to the book, Expert Financial Planning: Investment Strategies from Industry Leaders and Investors Guide to Hedge Funds.

[59] Since 1992, Gradante has acted as trustee to the DP Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, while also serving on the boards of the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association and CorpGov.