K2 Advisors

K2 Advisors is an American fund of funds investment firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Currently it is a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments and is one of the largest fund of hedge funds in the United States. It has additional offices in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Background
K2 advisors was founded in 1994 by David Saunders and William Douglass. The firm was named after the K2 mountain in the Karakoram range where the pair attended a fundraiser to benefit a team to climb it. Saunders previously worked for Julian Robertson at the firm Tiger Management as Head Trader making K2 Advisors part of the Tiger Cubs group. Douglass previously worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

Since 2006, K2 Advisors has been known to be investing in ESG securities as well as Insurance-Linked Securities.

In 2007 TA Associates acquired a minority interest in K2 advisors for an undisclosed amount of money.

In 2011, K2 Advisors considered selling the firm with The Carlyle Group being one of the main bidding frontrunners.

In 2012, K2 Advisors was acquired by Franklin Templeton Investments. K2 Advisors used the money from deal to buy out TA Associates stake which allowed Franklin Templeton Investments to have 100% ownership of K2 Advisors.

In 2019, K2 Advisors expanded its business to Europe with a new fund range which allowed local investors there to have access to U.S.-based fund managers.