Theodore Kay

Theodore "Ted" Kay is a founding partner of DLK Investment Management, an independent, 100% employee-owned registered investment advisory firm launched in 2009 and based in Solana Beach, California (greater San Diego). At DLK he oversees the firm's research and investment process, portfolio construction, and risk management across all of the firm's investment offerings. He earned a B.S. in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona.

Before co-founding DLK, Ted worked at Rice Hall James & Associates, a San Diego–based asset manager, where he worked alongside Donald Dempster and Charlie King — relationships that carried into the founding of DLK (the "D," "L," and "K" reflect the partners). His career in financial services spans roughly 17 years. Regulatory and advisor-directory records show he passed the Series 65 (Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination) on July 26, 2013, and is registered to provide investment advice in California (CRD #5643664). He is also referenced in advisor directories with the CFA® (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation.

Advisor-matching profiles also list an interim stint at Alpha Cubed Investments in Irvine, CA (approximately October 2014–January 2018) before he was again associated full-time with DLK, where he has been a principal since the firm's 2009 founding.

DLK Investment Management describes its strategy as a "Quality Investment Process" — an equity approach "designed for long-term investors that are seeking to outperform the equity market with less volatility," delivered through customized managed portfolios for retirement, family-legacy, and non-profit endowment clients. Regulatory filings put the firm's assets under management at approximately $524 million across roughly 470 client relationships, with about five advisors.

• Invests in public-market equities (with fixed income in balanced mandates), not private startups — the opposite end of the spectrum from seed-stage angel investing.
• Centers on a stated "quality" philosophy: in the firm's words, "we create long-term value for investors by delivering quality at all levels of the firm," seeking "companies that are less volatile in the long term."
• Goal: outperform the equity market with less volatility over long holding periods — a capital-preservation-and-compounding mandate for individuals, families, and endowments.
• Client base and check sizing are separately-managed-account (SMA) mandates, billed as a percentage of AUM or fixed fees — there is no published startup check size, lead/follow behavior, or syndicate activity.