Harraden Circle Hires King Street Partner David Walch for New Strategy

Harraden Circle Investments has hired David Walch, a 14-year veteran of King Street Capital Management, as Portfolio Manager to build a new opportunistic strategy across public and private markets. He starts November 1, 2026.

The New York-based firm said Walch will work with Founder and Chief Investment Officer Fritz Fortmiller to develop and co-manage the strategy. It will include privately negotiated transactions and sit alongside Harraden's existing event-driven investment business.

The appointment brings nearly three decades of experience spanning corporate credit, structured credit, real estate, and real assets. Harraden said the new offering will build on its current research and investment capabilities while incorporating Walch's background across those categories.

Fortmiller framed the hire in personal terms. "I've known David for many years, and he is simply one of the best investors I've encountered," he said.

Walch gave his own reason for the move. "The opportunity to invest alongside Fritz and the team in a select number of high-conviction ideas, within a focused and entrepreneurial investment firm, was a compelling reason to join," he said.

What does Walch bring from King Street?

Walch spent 14 years at King Street Capital Management, most recently as Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager. He held senior responsibility across the firm's investment activities.

He also served on four of its committees:

• Management Committee
• Global Investment Committee
• Real Estate Investment Committee
• Risk Committee

Before King Street, he was a Managing Director at Perry Capital. Earlier in his career, he worked as an Associate within Morgan Stanley's real estate group.

His academic credentials include an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University.

Why does this matter for Harraden Circle?

Harraden Circle was founded in 2016. The employee-owned firm describes itself as research-driven and focused on catalyst-driven opportunities across public and private markets. It combines fundamental research, event-driven investing, and structured capital expertise. The firm concentrates on situations involving complexity, identifiable catalysts, or structural features.

Until now, that event-driven business has been Harraden's core engine. Adding a dedicated opportunistic strategy gives the firm a second product line built around privately negotiated transactions, an area where Walch's credit and real asset background fits directly.

The structure matters. The new strategy spans both public and private markets rather than sitting in one silo, and it draws on the same research platform the firm already runs for its event-driven book. That lets Harraden pursue deals that do not fit the catalyst-driven mandate of its existing funds.

For Walch, the move trades a large multi-strategy platform for a focused, employee-owned shop where he co-manages from day one rather than inheriting an established book.

The bet now falls on execution. If the opportunistic strategy scales, Harraden gains a second senior-led business within a firm that turned ten years old in 2026; if deal flow in privately negotiated credit and real assets thins, the firm still holds its established event-driven franchise as the base.