Peter Weinbach

Peter Weinbach takes his cues from a 72-year-old friend who still possesses the discipline to run miles and exercise every day.

“The more you do, the more well rounded you become, the more efficient you become and the more engaging you become,” said Weinbach.

Weinbach has been an avid runner, tennis and squash player, golfer, and skier throughout his life and has added karate to that list, recently achieving his black belt in KenpÃ´.

Weinbach grew up in Westport and attended Staples High School; he went on to do his undergraduate and graduate studies at University of Pennsylvania achieving a Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts in political science.

Before graduate school, he worked for a short time in turnaround consulting and bankruptcy investing.

“I got real exposure early as to what can go wrong with companies,” said Weinbach. “I got a real fundamental understanding as to what makes a business tick, what problems can be run into and judging if a business has a future or not.”

When it came to grad school, instead of going strictly to an MBA program Weinbach felt it would be interesting to have an arts degree as well.

“I tend to be fairly energetic and have diverse interests,” said Weinbach. “I like to get up in the morning and get in as much as I possibly can each day.”

After graduate school, Weinbach worked for Patricof and Co, now Apax Partners. As a junior he did his part to help take Sunglass Hut from 80 to more than 100 stores and went public.

He then went to also work for AIG Horizon Partners.

“I found that it was much more appealing to invest in companies that were growth oriented,” said Weinbach. “We try to run them better, make them bigger and sell them for more than we bought them for. You buy the company and help formulate plans and become an active member of the board.”

Weinbach is currently a partner at Yankee Hill Capital Management L.L.C. and lives in Fairfield with his wife Janine Brown and their seven-year-old twin sons, Maxwell and William.

When his sons felt that they wanted to be ninjas, just like every young boy does, they also thought it would be fun to include dad.

“They said, wouldn”™t it be fun if we had a shared experience, and when we”™re at home together we can practice our moves,” said Weinbach. “I was all for it.”

Three months into the training Maxwell and William had lost interest and were already on to their next activity, but Weinbach stuck with it.

In addition to his recently accomplished KenpÃ´ black belt, Weinbach practices mixed martial arts and the Israeli fighting style Haganah. KenpÃ´ is itself a Japanese term for non-Japanese martial arts.

“Each of my sports tends to be individual sports, and requires a certain amount of dedication,” said Weinbach. “You can”™t just do karate once in a while you have to do it repeatedly; a lot of the moves are unnatural. In karate, if you”™re not out there and practicing and someone swings a kick at you, or you”™re not practicing some of these moves, it reduces your response time and your effectiveness.”

According to Weinbach being an active and physical person is key to being first-rate professionally.

“If you”™re in better shape and you”™re busy you tend to be more efficient; you tend to think better,” said Weinbach. “You tend to have a clearer mind. The investment process also requires patience and discipline; you can”™t just jump at an opportunity. You need to have certain criteria and a true understanding of what it takes to make money.”

Weinbach said a surprising number of black belts are successful professionals and attended prestigious schools.

“There”™s an energy level and an efficiency level and a quest for betterment,” said Weinbach. “If you focus on too many things, if you try to be too mechanical in karate, it”™s going to come back to you. You have to distill your focus to what matters. The ability to anticipate moves becomes critical to your success. I”™ve got to say, ”˜Based on all the tools he”™s got, how can I take him”™?”

Every day, Weinbach comes to work and puts in three intense hours at the office before heading to the gym for an hour and then back to work.

“I want to maximize the use of my time,” said Weinbach. “If you spend seven hours at your desk it becomes cruel and unusual.”