In the summer of 2025, David Fiszel made an unusual decision for a hedge fund manager in a rising market. He told investors in Honeycomb Asset Management, the New York firm he founded in 2016, that he had sold most of the fund’s public stock holdings and would return most of their money that September. Honeycomb had produced two consecutive years of 18 percent gains before 2025, according to Bloomberg.
In a letter reviewed by Bloomberg, he explained that opportunities in a market near record highs did not justify the risk. “I want to deploy capital when the opportunity set clearly justifies the risk-reward,” he wrote. He emphasized that he would continue investing. “This is not an exit from investing,” he wrote. “It is a reaffirmation of principle.”
More than a year later, he continues to manage Honeycomb’s private portfolio and his own investments while supporting healthcare and education through advisory roles and his family foundation.
The private portfolio
The 2025 move applied to outside capital invested in public markets. Honeycomb kept its longer-duration private investments, and Mr. Fiszel remained invested in them alongside his clients, according to Hedgeweek, which cited the Bloomberg report. He continues to manage that private portfolio today, according to his biography.
Private holdings were central to Honeycomb’s strategy from the start. The firm took a hybrid approach, investing in public stocks alongside private growth companies such as Palantir and Ramp. That approach stemmed from Mr. Fiszel’s last job before founding the firm: in 2015, Point72 Asset Management selected him to lead a venture unit called Honeycomb Ventures, Bloomberg reported at the time.
Managing private stakes differs from running a public portfolio. There is no daily market price, and opportunities to sell may be limited. The job involves tracking companies’ performance, understanding their plans, and deciding whether and when to sell.
His own investments
Alongside his private portfolio, Mr. Fiszel now focuses on his own investments. Investing personal capital allows greater flexibility over when to commit money and how long to hold a position, without the reporting obligations and redemption requests that come with managing money for outside clients.
His biography describes an approach centred on innovation-driven businesses in the technology, media, and consumer sectors, supported by long-term research. His career spans more than 25 years and includes roles at Omega Advisors and Point72. In his 2025 letter, he stated his priority plainly: “It is my wish to avoid loss of capital first and foremost.”
A seat at NYU Langone
His commitments also include healthcare. Mr. Fiszel serves on the Musculoskeletal Advisory Board at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, a board chaired by Gary D. Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs.
The hospital was founded in 1905 in a Harlem brownstone as the Jewish Hospital for Deformities and Joint Diseases and later became the Hospital for Joint Diseases, according to NYU Langone. The conditions it treats are widespread. Musculoskeletal conditions affect roughly 1.71 billion people worldwide and are the leading contributor to disability, according to the World Health Organization.
Supporting students from Texas
Mr. Fiszel is also involved in education. He is an Executive Member of the New York for McCombs Council, an alumni group from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his degree in finance.
The council was launched in 2013 to raise the school’s profile in New York. Its members host networking events, raise money for students and programs, and help students find internships and jobs at their firms. It partners with the Wall Street for McCombs Leadership Program, which gives students interview preparation, a council mentor, and a subsidized trip to meet New York employers.
Mr. Fiszel also supports education and healthcare through the Fiszel Family Foundation, which he established in 2018, according to Insider Monkey.
A continuing emphasis on the long term
These commitments share a long horizon, from private investments that may take years to mature to support for healthcare and students beginning their careers. Returning outside capital invested in public markets changed the scope of Mr. Fiszel’s investment work while leaving those other commitments in place.
His 2025 letter expressed the patience that long-term investing can require. “Often, the hardest decision is to do less and remain patient,” he wrote.
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