By Nicole Mistretta – Data Reporter, Dayton Business Journal

Apr 25, 2024

It’s the story behind the successful Dayton investment firm that came out of nowhere and grew exponentially.

In 2018, Larry Connor of The Connor Group sought to create an investment firm responsible for managing all the non-real estate related investments for the family and the Connor Group Kids & Community Foundation. At the time, his son Shane Connor had just returned to Dayton to jump start his own investment firm Huffman Prairie.

A meeting of the minds brought Shane Connor to take the helm and jump start the uniquely focused firm: Windancer Holdings. Now that it’s off the ground, Larry Connor has little involvement.

Under Shane Connor’s leadership, Windancer Holdings has grown its assets under management from $125 million at the end of 2018 to $654 million as of February 2024. Connor said growth has come from a combination of strong investment performance and capital inflows.

The investment firm is the only private firm exclusively focused on private companies within the state of Ohio and specifically the Dayton and Cincinnati regions. Connor said Windancer makes about two to three “sizeable investments” per year.

Their areas of focus for investment include software, testing and measurement, as well as other unique areas of business services and unique industrials.

“We’re only focused on that region and the idea is: let’s keep great companies locally owned, locally headquartered,” Connor said.

Shane Connor

Shane Connor, managing partner of Windancer Holdings

Shane Connor, managing partner of Windancer Holdings. His favorite spot to eat in the Dayton region is Dorothy Lane Market where he can’t leave without some Killer Brownies.

Windancer’s private investment portfolio focuses on their Long-Term Capital Partnership program, launched in 2023. On the public side, however, the firm remains open to investment opportunities outside the state.

“We’ve got to make sure that the businesses that we invest in are durable, long term businesses that are going to be around for decades,” Connor said. “We’re not interested in the fly by night, get rich quick ideas. We want to really partner with the community gems, the great companies in this region in Ohio, to keep them based here in the community on long term.”

Windancer Holdings currently has 15 core holdings, most of which are public companies. However, over time, Connor hopes the split to be more even between public and private companies.

David Shepley, the firm’s first partner, said Windancer’s differentiated approach centers around identifying exceptional companies before others can appreciate them. The secret to their success: deep field research.

Windancer Holdings seeks to determine what a prospective portfolio business can do over several years. Shepley said the idea allows them to help perform and produce enviable returns which he said, at the end of the day, “if you’re building an elite investment firm, that’s the business that you’re in.”

“I think another unique advantage for us when it comes back to that ability to look out over a longer time horizon, we can invest earlier than a lot of other of our peers or competitors are comfortable doing, because there’s more volatility,” Shepley said. “But if we can convince ourselves through our research that we found a very special business and we have several successes so far in the last several years of doing this.”

David Shepley

David Shepley is partner at Windancer Holdings in Dayton

His favorite spot in the region is Nelly’s where his go-to food is the Planchita – a beef strip loin filet topped with a sunny-side up egg and served on sizzling hot skillet.

One of Windancer Holdings’ success stories is through an investment with Computer Services, Inc. (CSI) – a leading provider of end-to-end fintech and regtech solutions. While Windancer is not named, the firm was one of the largest co-investors in the massive $1.6 billion deal, investing $45 million.

“We pride ourselves on being great partners,” Shepley said. “Everything we do is high integrity. We’re trying to achieve great investment returns and own great businesses – public and private. But we really pride ourselves on doing whatever we can to help our companies.”

Looking ahead, Connor said over the next decade more capital will flow into Windancer for them to invest in additional talent and build their research process – the key behind producing and generating returns.

“I think really differentiates us and frankly, a lot of people say they do it, but they actually don’t,” Connor said. “We’re here to say that we do and that it really allows us to build conviction to then get a concentrated portfolio and sizable investments.”

In terms of Larry Connor, he leads Miami Township-based The Connor Group, a real estate investment firm. Founded in 1992, The Connor Group ranks as the Dayton region’s 17th-largest company, according to DBJ research, with a revenue of $339 million in 2022. That was up 3.35% from the year before.

It currently owns and operates 51 luxury apartment communities in 18 markets across the country. The company has more than $5 billion assets under management.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2024/04/25/windancer-holdings-profile-2024.html