Dan Chung Reflects on Rebuilding Alger Management After 9/11 and AI Success

For Dan Chung, CEO and chief investment officer of Fred Alger Management, the morning of September 11, 2001, began with a mundane professional frustration. Then just 36 years old and working as a tech analyst, Chung started his day at the Intercontinental Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, intending to attend a presentation by a company CEO whose stock performance he was questioning.

“I was running late, so I went straight to the meeting,” Chung recalled. “The meeting starts. CEO walks out. He’s barely started, and somebody comes… and hands them a note.”

The note indicated that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. Alger’s offices were located on the 93rd floor of One World Trade Center, the North Tower, which was hit at 8:46 a.m. Although initial reactions in the Midtown meeting room assumed the incident was an accident, silence fell over the room minutes later when the second plane hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.

With cell phones failing to connect to offices in lower Manhattan, the group canceled the meeting. As Chung exited the hotel onto 42nd Street, he witnessed thousands of people staring down Lexington Avenue at the burning towers before they collapsed. He then spent the rest of the day coordinating with colleagues spread across New York City hospitals, including St. Vincent’s and Bellevue, searching for survivors.

Chung eventually returned to his wife and children in Brooklyn late at night. He later learned that the attack claimed the lives of 35 colleagues, including then-chief executive David Alger.

In the aftermath, Chung, the most senior survivor, was named chief investment officer. His father-in-law, firm founder Fred Alger, emerged from retirement to task him with reconstruction. Fortunately, preparations made by the late chief technology officer Michael Howell allowed the firm to resume operations by September 13. Howell had established a backup recovery center in Morristown, New Jersey, complete with a replicated trading desk and intact client records.

“It was above gold standard,” Chung said of the backup systems. “Platinum standard.”

Over the following 25 years, Chung not only rebuilt the firm but expanded it significantly. Assets under management grew to more than $47 billion, with the flagship Alger Spectra Fund (SPECX) holding $4.5 billion. The fund has performed exceptionally well in recent years, ranking in the top 4% of its category last year and the top 2% in 2024, driven by Chung’s early confidence in the artificial intelligence sector.

Chung’s leadership philosophy diverged from consultants who advised poaching star portfolio managers from other firms. Instead, he chose to honor the legacy of those lost by recruiting successful Alger alumni who shared the firm’s culture. This approach brought back analysts such as Teresa McRoberts and David Hyun, as well as Jill Greenwald, who approached Chung at a memorial service for colleague Ginger Risco, asking when she could start.

Today, the firm remains bullish on technology, adhering to Fred Alger’s long-standing growth-oriented strategy. Chung believes the current AI boom is still in its early stages, comparing the present moment to 1995 rather than the dot-com bubble of 1999. He dismissed concerns about data center oversupply, citing a current shortage of computing power.

Nvidia remains the top holding in the Spectra Fund, representing 14% of assets as of June. Other key holdings include CrowdStrike, Western Digital, Micron, and Nebius Group, a neocloud company Chung identified early.

The tragedy also deepened the firm’s commitment to philanthropy. In honor of the 35 employees who died, Alger launched the Alger 35 ETF, which consists of the firm’s highest-conviction ideas. A portion of management fees from the fund is donated to charities.

Reflecting on the recovery, Chung expressed optimism about the resilience of institutions and people. “I think it’s a reminder… that there’s a lot of good in this world,” he said. “A lot of good in people, in our institutions, certainly in this city and in this country.”