Chapman Capital LLC
Chapman Capital is an activist hedge fund. The fund is based in Los Angeles, California and was founded by Robert Chapman. The fund was the first to use the powerful 13-D filing, a requirement by the SEC in which investors must disclose a 5 percent stake in a company within 10 days. Chapman Capital has used the 13-D to send letters to executives voicing the fund's complaints and over the last decade has agitated successfully for the restructuring or sale of over 20 publicly-traded companies. The fund had an average annual return of 20 percent from 1996 to 2003. Its best year was 2001 when it produced a 50 percent return compared to a 13 percent decline by the S&P 500.