Dan Chung
Courtesy: Fred Alger Management
Daniel Chung, CEO and chief investment officer of Fred Alger Management, survived the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center by chance. At the time he was at the Intercontinental Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, investigating why a key stock holding was underperforming. Just as a scheduled presentation began, an audiovisual staff member handed the CEO a note. The executive read it, then said, “I’m not sure we can continue. There’s been a plane or something at the World Trade Center.” Alger’s offices were on the 93rd floor of One World Trade Center—the North Tower—which had been hit at 8:46 a.m.
Colleagues in Midtown initially thought it was an accident. When the second plane struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., a silence fell and the meeting was cancelled. With cell phones dead, employees lined up for the only landline outside the conference room. No calls could reach downtown offices. As Chung left the hotel, traffic had stopped and crowds stared toward Lexington Avenue, where smoke and debris hid lower Manhattan. He walked uptown, contacted other Alger staff, and spent the rest of the day in city hospitals where survivors were being searched for. By evening he saw no ambulances. He returned home to his family in Brooklyn after midnight. He later learned that 35 colleagues, including then‑CEO David Alger, had died.
Most senior survivor
Chung was named chief investment officer of Alger in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. As the most senior survivor, he was tasked by founder Fred Alger—his father‑in‑law—to rebuild the firm. He had access to the firm’s large crisis capital and had to reassure clients while preserving the company’s culture. The firm’s technology chief, Michael Howell, had previously established a backup recovery center in Morristown, N.J., which allowed operations to resume on Sept. 13. “It was above gold standard—platinum standard,” Chung said. Client records, proprietary trading models and other data survived.
Within days, Alger held a conference for clients, consultants and exchanges to update them on the firm’s status.
Alumni return
Chung, now 64, succeeded by staying true to Alger’s legacy rather than poaching talent after the attacks. Rather than assembling a new team, he recruited former employees who shared the firm’s culture. “I became dedicated to the idea of not only rebuilding Alger and staying in business—but rebuilding Alger,” he said. Alumni such as Teresa McRoberts, David Hyun and Jill Greenwald returned, motivated by a sense of duty.
Jill Greenwald approached Chung at the memorial for Ginger Risco, a former secretary who died on the 93rd floor. “I heard you’re asking Alger alumni to return,” Greenwald told him. “When do I start?” he recalled.
‘Positive Dynamic Change’
Alger’s investment philosophy—“positive dynamic change”—remains intact, driving early bets in artificial intelligence. Chung dismisses concerns about a data‑center bubble, noting a current shortage of computing power. Today, Nvidia is the fund’s top holding (14 % of assets as of June). CrowdStrike, Western Digital, Micron and Nebius Group are also highlighted. “We are still in the early years of what will be almost a full decade of AI‑driven growth,” Chung said. “This feels more like 1995 than 1999.”
‘A lot of good in this world’
The 9/11 tragedy also shaped Alger’s charitable focus. The firm launched an Alger 35 ETF honoring the 35 colleagues lost, donating a portion of fees to charity. Chung remains optimistic about the future, citing New York’s recovery and quoting, “There’s a lot of good in this world.”