Speakers — Hollywood 2007
Zeke Ashton
is the founder and Managing Partner of Centaur Capital Partners, a Dallas-based value-oriented investment firm. He and co-portfolio manager Matthew Richey are the advisors to the Centaur family of private partnerships using a long / short equity strategy, and are the sub-advisors to the Tilson Dividend Fund, a mutual fund utilizing a unique, income-oriented value investing strategy.
J. Carlo Cannell
has 16 years of experience investing in small caps and over 19 years of experience in analysis of technology companies. A graduate of Princeton, he attended New College, Oxford, and studied business at Templeton College. Mr. Cannell, a third generation investment manager, is the managing member of Cannell Capital LLC in San Francisco.
Douglas W. Grey
is a partner at Saddle Peak Asset Management, LLC. Before founding Saddle Peak, he was at Pacific Financial Research where he was the rebalancing Portfolio manager for the UAM Clipper Focus mutual fund from its inception. In 2000, Doug shared Morningstar Manager of the Year honors. He is known for his passion for value investing and has taught the Investment course at Pepperdine University. Doug believes absolute return is the foundation of success. He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Robert Hagstrom
currently serves as Portfolio Manager of the Legg Mason Growth Trust mutual fund, and has been primarily responsible for overseeing all investments made by that fund since its inception on April 17, 1995. He also manages the Growth Equity separate account product. Robert is known for his best-selling book, The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor and has also written several other popular books. He earned a B.A. and M.A. from Villanova University.
Lance Helfert
before founding West Coast Asset Management, oversaw a $1 billion portfolio at Wilshire Associates, and was involved in a full range of financial strategies at M.L. Stern & Co. Lance sits on the board of directors for Junior Achievement of Southern California and the Tri-Counties Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has been honored as one of the top executives in banking and finance by the Pacific Coast Business Times, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA.
Atticus Lowe
is a CFA Charterholder and has completed the Value Investing Executive Education Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is responsible for stock research and portfolio management, along with structuring private investment opportunities. Honored as a member of the “Forty Under 40” Class by the Pacific Coast Business Times, Atticus holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and business from Westmont College in Montecito, California. He is a member of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts, and a dedicated student of value investing.
Michael J. McConnell
has 15 years of investment experience and leads a team of 5 investment professionals that manages the $1.25bn Shamrock Activist Value Fund. He also sits on the executive committee of Shamrock Capital Advisors, the general partner of five private equity/direct investment funds. Shamrock’s investment philosophy combines a deep value focus with the active engagement of portfolio company boards, management teams and shareholders. He has sat on numerous public and private company boards over the last decade in the US, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. Mr. McConnell earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and MBA from the Darden School of the University of Virginia.
Mohnish Pabrai
Managing Partner of Pabrai Investment Funds, a group of focused value funds. Since inception in 1999 with $1 million, Pabrai Funds has grown to about $500 million in assets under management. A $100,000 investment in Pabrai Funds at inception in 1999 would have been worth $722,200 as of March 31, 2007, an annualized gain of 29.1% net to investors. Pabrai is the author of two books on value investing, Mosaic and The Dhandho Investor.
Robert Rodriguez
who joined First Pacific Advisors in 1983, manages FPA Capital Fund and separate accounts in the Small/Mid-Cap Value equity style. He is also the portfolio manager of FPA New Income, a bond fund, and separate fixed-income accounts. His prior experience includes serving as a Senior Portfolio Manager, Chairman's Department of Kaufman & Broad, Inc.; and portfolio manager at Transamerica Investment Services, Inc. Mr. Rodriguez received a BS in Business Administration (Magna Cum Laude) and an MBA, both from the University of Southern California.
Steven Romick
Senior Vice-President of First Pacific Advisors, Inc., is the portfolio manager of FPA Crescent Fund, FPA Hawkeye Fund, FPA Multi-Advisor Fund, and various separate accounts. He was previously Chairman of Crescent Management.
Thomas Russo
of Gardner Russo & Gardner, oversees nearly $3 billion as General Partner of Semper Vic Partners, L.P., and Semper Vic Partners (Q.P.), L.P. and through separately managed accounts. Mr. Russo is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Stanford Business and Law Schools. His approach to stock selection stresses two main points: value and price.
Mark Sellers
is the portfolio manager for Sellers Capical Fund (SCF). The fund has returned approximately 30% annually (gross) since inception on August 1, 2003. Prior to forming Sellers Capital, Mr. Sellers was Chief Equities Strategist at Morningstar, and editor of Morningstar StockInvestor, a monthly newsletter with approximately 40,000 subscribers.
William Vlahos
is the founder and portfolo manager of Odyssey Value Advisors, LLC. Odyssey is a long/short fund in San Francisco. On the long side, Bill seeks to own small cap companies that generate substantial free cash flow, with strong operating leverage inherent in the business model and multiple catalysts for appreciation. The short side is comprised of terminally bad businesses with deteriorating balance sheets, pressure on gross margins and a lack of pricing power.
Whitney R. Tilson
is the founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC, which manages three private investment partnerships and the Tilson Mutual Funds. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Value Investor Insight. Tilson has been a guest on Lou Dobbs Moneyline and Wall $treet Week, has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and is a regular columnist for Financial Times. He is the co-founder and Chairman of the Value Investing Congress.
Glenn H. Tongue
is the Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds. Mr. Tongue spent 17 years on Wall Street, most recently as an investment banker at UBS, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Acquisition Finance. Before UBS, Mr. Tongue was at DLJ for 13 years, the last three of which he served as the President of NYSE-listed DLJdirect. Prior to that he was a Managing Director in the Investment Bank at DLJ, where he worked on over 100 transactions aggregating more than $40 billion.
Wally Weitz
is President of Wallace R. Weitz & Company. He manages the Hickory Fund and Partners III Opportunity Fund, and co-manages the Value Fund and Partners Value Fund. After 10 years as an analyst and portfolio manager at Chiles, Heider & Co., a regional brokerage firm in Omaha, Mr. Weitz started Wallace R. Weitz & Company in 1983. He leads a group of 7 investment professionals that manage approximately $6 billion.