Matt Arens is chief executive officer, portfolio manager and founder of FirstLight Asset Management. He has been fortunate to combine two distinct passions in his career: investments and life sciences. Since entering the investments field in 1997, Arens has followed smaller-cap stocks, with a particular focus on identifying innovative health care companies with a high probability of driving outsized returns. He has been managing dedicated health care portfolios since 2008. His longest-running strategy is currently ranked the #1 U.S. small-cap growth strategy based on performance since inception by PSN/ Informa.[1],[2]
Arens founded First Light in 2013 and has grown the firm to more than $1.1 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2025. The firm invests exclusively in the health care sector and across its industries, including biotech, medical devices and equipment, specialty pharma, diagnostic tools and services, healthcare information technology, and life science tools and services. Prior to establishing First Light, Arens was president and senior portfolio manager at Kopp Investment Advisors. While at Kopp, he served as the sole portfolio manager for the firm’s health care-focused investment strategy.
Arens graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor of science degree in financial planning. He has been a keynote speaker at the PricewaterhouseCoopers CFO Forum and featured speaker at DeviceTalks West, a forum where leading experts explore the latest technologies and trends shaping the medical device industry. Arens also has been featured in publications, including BusinessWeek,Barron’s, Pensions & Investments, Hedge Fund Alert, Investment News, Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press.
[1] First Light investment strategy data from 9/30/2008 (inception) through 9/25/2013 reflects a representative account that held the majority of the assets managed by FirstLight’s senior portfolio manager while affiliated with a prior firm. From 9/26/2013 forward, performance represents the First Light Health Care Non-Advisory Composite.
[2] Rankings from PSN/Informa are based on trailing returns reported gross of fees, so as not to take into account varying fee structures across managers. Performance is self-reported by participating advisers or strategies. Rankings reflect reported performance to PSN/Informa as of 9/30/2025. First Light does not pay to be included in the PSN/Informa ranking, but did formerly subscribe to its services.
