Keynote Speakers' and Panelists' Bios
Julian Allen
Julian Allen has over twelve years of professional hedge fund and
private equity investing experience. Julian is the Founder and Managing
Member of Spitfire Capital LLC, a specialist investor in neglected small
and micro-capitalization companies. Before founding Spitfire, Julian was
a Member of Cannell Capital LLC, a San Francisco based investment
advisor. Julian is a Director of QuadraMed Corporation (NASDAQ: QDHC)
and serves on the audit and compensation committees.
Before joining Cannell Capital, Julian was a Managing Director of J.H. Whitney & Co., a private equity and alternative asset management firm, where he was a member of the Equity Investment Committee. Julian started his investment career in New York at Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc., now Apax Partners, and with Capital Z Partners.
Julian is a graduate of Cambridge University and of the Harvard Business School, where he was awarded a Masters in Business Administration with High Distinction, and graduated as a George F. Baker Scholar.
Dan Anglin
Dan Anglin is a graduate of The University of Virginia (Phi Beta
Kappa) and of The Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
During his investment career Dan has worked for Fidelity Investments,
Bankers Trust, and The Oakmark Family of Funds. Since 2000 Dan has
served as a principal of The Prince Henry Group, a family of private
partnerships investing in a wide gamut of total return asset classes on
a global basis. Dan serves as a director for Oxira Medical, for The
Prince Henry Foundation, and for The Johns Hopkins Center For Summer
Learning. Most importantly, Dan is married to Stephanie, and they have
an adored daughter, Olivia.
Christopher J.
Brightman
Chris has executive management responsibility and acts as Chief
Investment Officer. He serves as Chairman of the Board for The
Investment Fund for Foundations Advisory Services (TIFF) and as an
Investment Advisory Committee member of the Virginia Retirement System.
He joined UVIMCO in December of 2004.
Chris was previously employed as Chief Investment Officer at Strategic
Investment Group, Head of Equity Strategy at UBS Asset Management,
Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Brinson Partners, Vice
President and Manager of Asset/Liability Management at Maryland National
Bank, and Associate National Bank Examiner at the Comptroller of the
Currency. Chris holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He
received his BS from Virginia Tech and his MBA from Loyola College of
Maryland.
Frank Byrd
Frank Byrd, CFA – Portfolio Manager. Prior to co-founding Hawkshaw,
Mr. Byrd spent nearly three years as a Research Analyst at Midtown
Capital Partners, where he was the firm’s second most tenured analyst.
From January 1999 through January 2000, Mr. Byrd worked in US Equity
Research at Merrill Lynch as a research associate in the Specialty
Chemicals Group. From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Byrd worked in Merrill Lynch's
Private Client Group. Mr. Byrd received his MBA from Columbia Business
School in 2000 and his BA from Rhodes College in 1990. Mr. Byrd received
his CFA designation in 2001.
Francisco Carrillo
Francisco Carrillo co-founded Sabino Capital Management in 2006.
Prior to co-founding Sabino Capital, Mr. Carrillo worked in the
research-sales department of GBM Grupo Bursatil Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V.
("GBM"), a publicly traded broker-dealer in Mexico. At GBM, Francisco
served as link between the firm's research team and its international
clients (comprised in large part by foreign investment partnerships).
Mr. Carrillo was also a member of GBM's investment committee during his
last two years at the firm. Francisco joined GBM in 1998 as a research
trainee and performed various roles within the research and
institutional sales departments during his tenure there.
Eric Conner
Eric Conner is the Co-Founder and CEO of TriPro Management, Inc. (TriPro).
Founded in 1992, TriPro oversees the acquisition, management,
development and disposition of over 4,000 multi-family units in the
Greater Dallas and Houston areas. TriPro owns and manages a $120 million
portfolio, focusing on value-added management opportunities in the
workforce housing arena. Mr. Conner is responsible for all aspects of
financing, investor relations, strategy development and equity raising.
Mr. Conner received a B.S in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University
and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to starting TriPro, Mr. Conner worked for five years at McKinsey &
Company, Inc. with a focus on the energy sector.
Aaron Edelheit
Aaron Edelheit is Portfolio Manager of Sabre Value Management. His
ten years of experience include research, trading and portfolio
management across a wide array of industries both domestically and
internationally. Mr. Edelheit began his career at Individual Investor
Group. In 1998, he started Sabre Value Management and he launched the
Sabre Value Fund in 2002. He has compounded his investors' money at 20%
net of fees annually since 1998.
Victor Fasciani
Victor Fasciani is the Portfolio Manager of Praetorian Value Fund,
LLC, founded originally as Praetorian Investments, LLC in 1999, in
Atlanta; over the past year, he has provided research services as an
independent Sr. Research Analyst to Sellers Capital, LLC in Chicago.
Prior to entering the money management business, Mr. Fasciani worked as
a Senior Consultant for East West Resources Corp. in Washington, DC
focusing on financial restructuring of telecom, infrastructure, and
manufacturing firms in Central and Eastern Europe; he continued this
work by founding his own firm, Novacor, Inc. Mr. Fasciani holds a B.A in
Economics & Eastern European languages from Villanova University and
completed graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies in Washington, DC.
Everette Fortner
Everette Fortner currently serves Darden as the Executive Director
for Corporate Relations. In this role Everette overseas all
enterprise-wide corporate relationships and also manages the Career
Development Center. He serves as liaison between the employer community
and the Darden Enterprise and its students. He leads all activities of
the CDC including strategy development and implementation, corporate
relationships and the portfolio of recruiting companies, career coaching
of students, and direction and management of the team. Everette started
at Darden in July 2003 as the Director of Career Development. Everette
is a Darden graduate from the Class of 1987. He previously worked for 17
years in marketing and general management with Kraft, Nabisco, Frito-Lay
and Dun & Bradstreet, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Thomas S. Gayner
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer since May
2004. Chief Investment Officer from January 2001 – May 2004. President,
Markel-Gayner Asset Management Corporation, a subsidiary, since December
1990. Director from 1998 – 2004. Executive Vice President since May of
2004 and Chief Investment Officer since January of 2001. He served as
Vice President, Equity Investments from June of 1995 to January of 2001
and as President, Markel Gayner Asset Management, Inc., a subsidiary,
since December of 1990. He has been a Director of the Company since
November of 1998.
Kian Ghazi
Kian Ghazi, CFA – Portfolio Manager. Prior to co-founding Hawkshaw,
Mr. Ghazi spent nearly five years as a Research Analyst at Midtown
Capital Partners, a long/short investment partnership that scaled to
over $1 billion in assets during his tenure. Mr. Ghazi was a founding
analyst and the firm’s most tenured investment professional. Prior to
that, from 1995 to 1998, he was an Equity Research Analyst at Lehman
Brothers, ranking as the #1 Services analyst by Reuters in 1998. Mr.
Ghazi received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business in 1995,
graduating in the top 5% of his class. In 1991, he graduated Magna Cum
Laude from New York University with a BS in Finance. Mr. Ghazi received
his CFA designation in 1997.
John A. Griffin
John is President of Blue Ridge Capital, an investment partnership
that he founded in 1996. John began his career as a financial analyst
for Morgan Stanley Merchant Banking Group before moving on to Tiger
Management, where he became president in 1993. He is adjunct professor
of finance at Columbia Business School and a visiting professor at the
University of Virginia. John serves as the founding Board Chair of
iMentor, board member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and a member of
the boards of trustees of the Animal Medical Center of New York, the
University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce and Monticello in
Charlottesville, Virginia. John received his MBA from Stanford
University Graduate School of Business and his BS in finance from the
University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce.
Thomas Inglesby
Mr. Inglesby joined GSC Group at its inception in 1999. Mr. Inglesby
also has responsibility for the GSC U.S. Corporate Debt business. From
1997 to 1999, he was with Greenwich Street Capital Partners. Prior to
that, Mr. Inglesby was a Managing Director with Harbour Group in St.
Louis, Missouri, an investment firm specializing in the acquisition of
manufacturing companies in fragmented industries. In 1986, he joined
PaineWebber and was a Vice President in the Merchant Banking Department
from 1989 to 1990. Mr. Inglesby graduated with Honors from the
University of Maryland with a B.S. degree in Accounting, from the
University of Virginia School of Law with a J.D. degree and from the
Darden Graduate School of Business Administration with a M.B.A. degree.
Alejandro Legorreta
Alejandro Legorreta co-founded Sabino Capital Management in 2006.
Prior to founding of Sabino Capital, Mr. Legorreta was a director at
Praemia, a Mexico City based private equity fund with investments in
Mexico and Latin America. Mr. Legorreta is currently a board member of
Instiuto de Empresa Business School Fund and several other private and
philanthropic organizations. Mr. Legorreta holds a bachelor's degree in
Law from the Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City and an MBA from the
Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid, Spain. He is currently a
candidate for a PhD is Strategy and Development from the Universidad
Anáhuac in Mexico City.
John G. Macfarlane
John G. Macfarlane, III is the Chief Operating Officer of Tudor
Investment Corporation and Co-Chairman of the Firm’s Management
Committee. Prior to joining Tudor in 1998, Mr. Macfarlane worked at
Salomon Brothers for eighteen years where he served as Treasurer from
1989 to 1996 and as Managing Director of several of the Firm’s Fixed
Income Trading Businesses. Mr. Macfarlane has served as Chairman of the
Public Securities Association Funding Committee and on the Board of
Directors of the Government Securities Clearing Corporation (GSCC) where
he served as Chairman from 1994 to 1996. He was a participating member
in the financial services industry policy groups, DPG and CRMPG II.
Mr. Macfarlane earned a B.A. in Classical Studies in 1976 from
Hampden-Sydney College, where he was a Baker Scholar, and a M.B.A. from
The Darden School at the University of Virginia in 1979. In 1989, Mr.
Macfarlane received Darden’s Rosenthal Fellowship for innovation in the
field of Finance.
Mr. Macfarlane is Chairman of the University of Virginia’s Darden School
Foundation Board and a member of the Executive Committee and of the
Board of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO).
He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nantucket Conservation
Foundation and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Brunswick
School, where he severed as Chairman from 2001-2006.
Steven A. Markel
Steven A. Markel has been the Vice Chairman since March 1992 and a
Director since 1978. He has had many positions at Markel Corporation
including; Executive Vice President & Treasurer, Senior Vice President
of Finance, and Assistant Treasurer. His current responsibilities
include; strategic planning, acquisitions, investments, loss reserving,
and investor relations. Steven received his BS in Finance from the
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School.
Lyle Minton
Lyle Minton is a founding partner of Point Clear Capital Management,
LLC (“PCCM”). Prior to founding the company, Mr. Minton was a Senior
Vice President with Alcentra, Inc. (a US$16 billion leveraged loan fund
headquartered in London) where he was Head of Structured Products,
responsible for all structured credit investments. Before joining
Alcentra, Mr. Minton was a Managing Director in the HSBC Bank USA
Structured Credit Products group in New York from 2000 to 2004, during
which time he was the Head of the Financial Institution coverage team
and, most recently, Head of Product Development. Lyle Minton has over 17
years of experience in derivatives, structured credit products and
securitization - experience which includes: working on the Bank for
International Settlements market risk and credit risk capital framework
for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA);
derivatives risk management consulting with Arthur Andersen, LLP; and
credit derivatives and cash securitization transactions as a trader,
marketer and structurer with CIBC World Markets. During his career, Mr.
Minton has modeled and executed a range of structured transactions,
including synthetic corporate CDOs, cash CLOs and customized
securitizations involving several asset classes. He has structured both
cash and synthetic transactions related to credit default swaps (CDS),
asset backed securities (ABS), Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO’s),
leveraged loans, Treasury repos and alternative investments. Mr. Minton
graduated in 1988 from Auburn University with a B.S. in Economics and
from Pace University in 1992 with a M.B.A. in finance. In 1995, he
completed a fellowship in derivatives pricing theory at Virginia Tech
University's Center for Futures and Options. Mr. Minton has published
articles in Risk and Canadian Derivative Strategy.
Thomas A. Russo,
Gardner Russo & Gardner
Thomas A. Russo joined Gardner Russo & Gardner as a partner in 1989.
Eugene
Gardner, Thomas Russo and Eugene Gardner, Jr., as partners, each manage
individual separate accounts and share investment approaches and
strategies. In addition, Thomas Russo serves as General Partner to
Semper Vic partnerships. Mr. Russo oversees $4 billion through
separately managed accounts and partnerships. Gardner Russo & Gardner is
a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of
1940, and is not associated with any bank, security dealer or other
third party.
Mr. Russo's investment philosophy emphasizes return on invested capital,
principally through equity investments. His approach to stock selection
stresses two main points: value and price. While these would seem to be
obvious key considerations in any manager's approach, it is equally
obvious that all too often they are either misjudged or, perhaps more
frequently, simply not viewed together.
Mr. Russo looks for companies with strong cash-flow characteristics,
where large amounts of "free" cash flow are generated. Portfolio
companies tend to have strong balance sheets and a history of producing
high rates of return on their assets. The challenge comes in finding
these obviously desirable situations at reasonable or bargain prices.
Mr. Russo's investment approach is focused on a small number of
industries in which companies have historically proven to be able to
generate sustainable amounts of net free cash flow. (These industries
typically have included food, beverage, tobacco, and advertising
supported media.) This fairly narrow approach reflects his training and
discipline at the Sequoia Fund in New York, where he worked from 1984 to
1988. Mr. Russo tries to limit risk by not paying too large a multiple
of a company's net free cash flow in light of prevailing interest rates.
He attempts to broaden this otherwise narrow universe by including
companies with smaller market capitalizations and companies in similar
industries based abroad.
Mr. Russo's goal is one of an absolute return rather than a relative
return, and he continues his long-term investment objective of
compounding assets between 10 and 20 percent per year without great
turnover, thereby realizing a minimum amount of realized gains and net
investment income.
Thomas A. Russo is General Partner of Semper Vic Partners, L.P., and
Semper Vic
Partners (Q.P.), L.P., limited partnerships whose combined investments
exceed $1 billion, along
with overseeing substantially more funds through separate accounts for
individuals, trusts, and
endowments. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (B.A., 1977), and
Stanford Business and
Law Schools (JD/MBA, 1984). Memberships include California Bar
Association and Board of
Visitors for Stanford Law School. Mr. Russo is a charter member of the
Advisory Board for the
Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing at Columbia Business
School. He is a member
of Dartmouth College's President's Leadership Council.
Nicholas P. Sargen
Nick Sargen is the Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of
the
Western & Southern Financial Group based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also
the
Chief Investment Officer at Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc., a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Western & Southern Financial Group. In
this role, Mr. Sargen is responsible for overseeing the investment
activity for all assets under management for Fort Washington and its
divisions and subsidiary, which exceed $31.0 billion.
Prior to joining Fort Washington in June, 2003, Mr. Sargen’s experience
encompassed many years as an international economist and global money
manager. He previously served as Managing Director for JP Morgan Chase
in New York, where he was
Chief Investment Strategist for JP Morgan Private Bank. He has also
served as
Managing Director for Prudential Insurance Company, where he was Chief
Investment Officer for Global Fixed Income Advisors. Previously, he was
Director, Bond Market Research, for Salomon Brothers. His experience
includes positions with Morgan Guaranty Trust, the Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco, and the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Mr. Sargen was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, where he
earned a Ph.D. and a M.A. in economics from Stanford University; he
received an undergraduate degree in economics at the University of
California - Berkeley. He has taught courses at the Darden Graduate
School of Business Administration and Xavier University, where he also
chairs the advisory board for the Finance department. Mr. Sargen
frequently contributes research articles on global investing to various
publications and appears regularly on television business programs. He
had been a regular panelist with Louis Rukeyser from 2001 through 2004.
Alice Schroeder
Alice Schroeder began her career as an auditor in the Houston office
of one Ernest & Whinney, then one of the “big eight” accounting firms.
After a stint in the firm’s the national headquarters, she joined the
Financial Standards Accounting Board, where she drafted some of the most
significant accounting standards affecting the insurance industry, FAS
113 and EITF Consensus Positions 93-6 and 93-14. Rather than take the
typical route into industry after the FASB, Schroeder joined Dowling
Partners, a boutique investment banking firm in Boston. Schroeder next
became a managing director at first Oppenheimer & Co., then PaineWebber,
where she was voted by clients a member of the Institutional Investor
All-America Research team in recognition of her property-casualty
insurance research.
In 1998, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired General
Reinsurance, a company whose stock Schroeder followed. Buffett,
generally dismissive of analysts, and of Wall Street in general, asked
Schroeder to “do him a favor” by becoming the only analyst with whom he
would speak. Her January, 1999 report on Berkshire became a best-seller
for PaineWebber and launched a new valuation method for BRK that is used
by many investors today.
In 2000 Schroeder joined
Morgan Stanley, where she became a Managing Director and Institutional
Investor’s top-ranked property-casualty insurance analyst. In addition
to Berkshire Hathaway, Schroeder published a popular newsletter and was
known for her coverage of insurance giant AIG, tough calls on stocks,
hard-hitting industry coverage, and perspective on terrorism’s impact on
the insurance industry following the 9/11 attacks. In the winter of
2002-3 Schroeder was named Analyst/Researcher of the Year by The Review
magazine, one of “40 People to Watch” by A.M. Best, and one of “35
Rising Stars” by Business Insurance magazine.
Early in 2003 Schroeder went on leave from Morgan Stanley and began what
would become five years of research and writing for the ultimate
analysis – of Warren Buffett, for what became The Snowball. Granted
unparalleled access by Buffett to his papers, family and unlimited time
for interviews and questions, Schroeder gives a never-before seen look
at Buffett’s upbringing and early history and a fine-grained level of
detail of his relationships, investing and philanthropy.
Schroeder’s own life was changed significantly by her close association
with Buffett, and she speaks eloquently of the man and the principles he
employs in the Business of Life.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband, David Moyer, an executive
search consultant, and their dogs Tiger Lily and Anjali.
Kenneth H. Shubin Stein, MD, CFA
Dr. Shubin Stein is the founder of Spencer Capital Management, LLC. In
2000 he founded Kenshu,LLC, the predecessor to the Spencer Capital
Opportunity Fund, LP, which was formed in 2003. From2001 to 2003 Dr.
Shubin Stein managed Kenshu, LLC while also working as a portfolio
manager for Promethean Investment Group, LLC. He joined Promethean after
completing his internship inorthopedic medicine at Mount Sinai Medical
Center in New York. Before his internship, he cofounded and managed
Compo Asset Management, LLC, a U.S. based value investment partnership
which was merged into Promethean. Prior to founding Compo, Dr. Shubin
Stein was a medical technology analyst for The Abernathy Group in New
York, an investment management firm specializing in the medical and
technology sectors. Dr. Shubin Stein is a graduate of the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine where he completed a 5-year medical and
research program with a focus on molecular genetics. He graduated with a
B.A. degree from Columbia College in 1991 with dual concentrations in
Premedical Studies and Political Science. Dr. Shubin Stein holds the CFA
designation. Dr. Shubin Stein’s commitment to charitable endeavors
includes a focus on public health issues and helping homeless and low
income women and children. He is also an active volunteer and former
board member of Girls Preparatory Charter School, a New York City school
for underprivileged girls in kindergarten through fourth grade. He
serves on the board of HelpUSA and is the leader of the organization’s
young professionals group, HelpNYC.
Guy Spier
Since 1995 Guy Spier has been running Aquamarine Capital Management,
LLC. Investors include friends and family, high net worth individuals,
and private banks investing on behalf of their clients.
The fund has market beating returns - and has received mentions by Lipper and Nelson's world's best money managers. The investees can be obscure or they can also be very well known.
The fund has also done well owning the shares of less understood, but very high quality, cash generative businesses. It currently owns several credit rating companies as well as several post secondary education companies. The ratings business (whether of debt securities, or of individuals, through education) is one of the best businesses that Guy has ever seen, and is consistently underestimated by investors.
Guy Spier recently appeared to talk about investing in various forums, including the Harvard Business School Investment Club conference, with students at Wharton Business School, at Boston University Business School and at London Business School. He also appeared in print in the Financial Times, the Economist, Money Magazine, Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal. He was recently featured in "Forbes on Fox" on Fox News Channel.
Before Aquamarine Guy spent a couple of years raising money for development stage companies. It was during this time that he discovered value investing; he came across the Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham. Whereas the venture capital world made less and less sense to Guy the more he did it, value investing has made more and more sense to him.
Before Harvard Business School, Guy worked as a consultant at Braxton Associates, now part of Deloitte Consulting in London and Paris. He also spent 6 months working at the Forward Studies Unit (Cellule de Prospective) at the European Commission.
Guy Spier did an MBA at Harvard Business School (class of 1993).
He did his undergraduate degree at Brasenose College, Oxford in PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics). He graduated in 1988. Upon graduating, he was co-awarded the George Webb Medley Prize for the best performance in Economics for that year. Guy was also awarded an M.A. from Oxford.
Josh Tarasoff
Josh is founder and Managing Partner of Greenlea Lane Capital, a
value-based investment partnership. Josh began his career at Goldman,
Sachs & Co. and has also worked in the nonprofit sector. He holds a BA
in philosophy from Duke University and an MBA from Columbia Business
School.
Whitney R. Tilson
Whitney Tilson is the founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners
LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds. The former manages three value-oriented
private investment partnerships, T2 Accredited Fund, Tilson Offshore
Fund and T2 Qualified Fund, while the latter is comprised of two
value-based mutual funds, Tilson Focus Fund and Tilson Dividend Fund.
Mr. Tilson is also the co-founder, Chairman and co-Editor-in-Chief of
Value Investor Insight , an investment newsletter, and is the co-founder
and Chairman of the Value Investing Congress, a biannual investment
conference in New York City and Los Angeles.
Mr. Tilson writes a regular column on value investing for the Financial
Times and Kiplinger's, has written for the Motley Fool and TheStreet.com,
was one of the authors of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, the definitive book
on Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, and teaches
financial statement analysis and business valuation for the Dickie
Group. He was one of five investors included in SmartMoney’s Power 30,
was named by Institutional Investor as one of 20 Rising Stars, has
appeared many times on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business Network, Lou
Dobbs Moneyline and Wall $treet Week, was on the cover of the July 2007
Kiplinger’s, has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and the
Washington Post, and has spoken widely on value investing and behavioral
finance. He served on the Board of Directors of Cutter & Buck, a public
company that designs and markets upscale sportswear for two years until
the company was sold in early 2007.
Mr. Tilson received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard
Business School, where he was elected a Baker Scholar (top 5% of class),
and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s
degree in Government.
Donald M Wilkinson
Mr. Wilkinson directs investment policy and chairs the Investment
Committee. Before co-founding the firm in 1972, Mr. Wilkinson was Vice
President and partner of New Court Securities Corporation which
represented the Rothschild family in the United States; Vice President
of Tsai Management & Research; and Latin American debt analyst and
portfolio manager of the Keystone International Equity Fund. In 1987, he
was a founder and Director of The Swiss Helvetia Fund (NYSE) and served
as President from 1987-1994. Member of the CFA Institute and the New
York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA). Mr. Wilkinson received his BA
from the Virginia Military Institute and his MBA from The Darden School
of Graduate Business Administration, University of Virginia.
