Professionals
The development and retention of our professionals is a key differentiating characteristic of ours within the industry and will continue to be paramount to the growth of the firm. Our employees are industry-leading professionals with extensive experience within our investment specialty, including a notable trend of dedication to our organization. Our current investment team averages 20 years of investment experience and 10 years of commitment to WSA. It is the stability of our professional staff and their continued enrichment and execution of our investment process that is responsible for our highly style-specific investment results.
Investment Team
PAUL J. ARIANO, CFA – Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager
Mr. Ariano is responsible for the fundamental analysis of individual securities and industry trends and is a member of the Investment Strategy Group. He has over 19 years of investment experience and has been a member of the investment management team for 13 years, specializing in the coverage of Healthcare, Consumer Discretionary, Energy and Transportation stocks. Prior to joining Wall Street Associates, Mr. Ariano worked for two years as an equity analyst at Galleon Capital Management. He also worked for two years at Wilshire Associates as an analyst in their Pension Consulting division. Mr. Ariano earned his BA in Business Administration at the University of San Diego and his MS in Finance at San Diego State University. Mr. Ariano is a member of the CFA Institute as well as the Financial Analysts Society of San Diego.
WILLIAM W. GASTIL – Senior Vice President, Head Trader
Mr. Gastil is responsible for overseeing trading of the firm's assets and is a member of the Investment Strategy Group. His background encompasses over 29 years' experience trading small and mid cap equities. Since joining Wall Street Associates in 1992, he has served as Head Trader in charge of all trading functions, bringing proven expertise in large block trading with emphasis on minimizing transaction costs. Mr. Gastil previously spent 13 years at Trust Company of the West, where he served as Assistant Vice President of Equity Trading. His responsibilities at TCW included handling all orders for the $2.5B Small Cap Value Fund, as well as the inaugural Latin American Equity Fund. Preceding his 10 years on the TCW Equity Desk, he served as a Fixed Income Trader and member of the Fixed Income Policy Committee, with responsibility for managing and trading $2.5B in short term debt. Mr. Gastil received his degree in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.
LUKE A. JACOBSON, CFA – Investment Analyst
Mr. Jacobson is responsible for the fundamental analysis of individual securities and industry trends within various sectors of non-traditional growth including Producer Durables and Financial Services. He works closely with Portfolio Managers Carl Wiese, CFA, and Paul Ariano, CFA and is a member of the Investment Strategy Group. Previously, Mr. Jacobson worked for two years at WSA as Assistant Vice President of Marketing and two years at Seneca Capital Management as a Marketing Analyst, beginning his career in 2001 with Thomas Weisel Partners in Product Management for Institutional Sales. Mr. Jacobson earned his BS in Finance from the University of Missouri and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of San Diego.
WILLIAM JEFFERY, III – President, CIO
Mr. Jeffery is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the firm, as well as co-chair of the firm's Investment Strategy Group. As President and CIO, Mr. Jeffery oversees the investment function and all business activities. Mr. Jeffery's areas of sector specialization are Healthcare, Consumer Discretionary, and Energy. He entered the investment profession immediately following graduate studies with a primary focus on growth equities. His 40-year career in smaller growth stocks spans 3 full market cycles and qualifies him uniquely as a member of the firm's investment team. His previous career assignments include President and Portfolio Manager of California First Capital Management, and Vice President, Manager of Trust Investments at California First Bank where he supervised the investment of a billion dollar trust portfolio. Mr. Jeffery earned his BBA and MBA degrees from the University of Michigan.
PAUL K. LECOQ – Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager
Mr. LeCoq has primary responsibility for the firm's La Jolla Partners, L.P. portfolio. Additionally, he has responsibility for a portion of the Technology sector in the firm's institutional accounts and is a member of the Investment Strategy Group. Prior to joining Wall Street Associates, Mr. LeCoq worked for approximately 5 years at CIBC World Markets as an Executive Director of Institutional Equity Sales and 9 years at Ragen MacKenzie Group where he held a similar position. Paul graduated Magna Cum Laude from Pacific Lutheran University where he earned his BA degree in Economics, he holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.
KENNETH F. MCCAIN – Executive Vice President, Portfolio Manager
Mr. McCain is a member of the firm's Board of Directors and the Investment Strategy Group. As a portfolio manager, he specializes in Technology stocks. Over the course of Mr. McCain's 36-year investment career, he has specialized in smaller capitalization growth companies with particular emphasis on leading-edge technologies and innovative consumer companies. Mr. McCain's previous career positions include, Vice President, Portfolio Manager, California First Capital Management, and Vice President, Trust Investment Officer, California First Bank. In this capacity he received national recognition for the superior returns generated during his 7-year tenure as manager of the bank's small-cap special equity portfolios. Mr. McCain earned his BA and MBA degrees from San Diego State University where his studies emphasized finance and securities analysis.
TED C. SMITH, CFA, CIC – Senior Vice President, COO, CCO
Mr. Smith Co-Chairs the firm's Investment Strategy Group and is directly responsible for the research, risk management, and quantitative tools which assist the entire Investment Team in its review of strategy. Mr. Smith also serves as the firm's Chief Operating Officer, directly responsible for all administrative functions including operations, marketing, and client service. As Chief Compliance Officer, Mr. Smith is charged with the responsibility of monitoring the firm's compliance with all federal and state securities laws and regulations. Prior to joining Wall Street Associates, he worked for four years at Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management. Mr. Smith earned his MBA with emphasis in Finance and New Venture Management from the University of San Diego, and B.S. in Marine Engineering from Maine Maritime Academy. He is a member of the CFA Institute, the Financial Analysts Society of San Diego, and the Investment Counsel Association of America (ICAA).
ALEXIS WAADT – Vice President, Investment Analyst
Ms. Waadt is responsible for the fundamental analysis of individual securities and industry trends in the Technology sector and is a member of the Investment Strategy Group. She has over eight years experience on the brokerage side, primarily in the institutional arena. Prior to joining Wall Street Associates, Alexis worked for four years at Hambrecht and Quist, in the institutional sales group, and four years as an analyst at Foresters Equity Services, Inc. She earned her BA in Economics at University of California, San Diego and her MBA in Finance from San Diego State University.
CARL M. WIESE, CFA – Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager
As a portfolio manager and member of the investment strategy group, Mr. Wiese specializes in business and consumer services, financials, producer durables as well as non-traditional areas of growth. He has 18 years of experience, and has been a member of the investment management team for 8 years. Prior to joining Wall Street Associates, Carl worked for 4 years as an analyst/portfolio manager at Hokanson Capital Management, as well as 4 years at William O'Neil & Company as an analyst. He earned his BBA in Business Administration from the University of San Diego, and his MS in Finance from San Diego State University. Mr. Wiese is a member of the CFA Institute as well as the Financial Analysts Society of San Diego.
Marketing, Client Service & Operations
DEB HOLDEN - Vice President, Operations
Ms. Holden brings over 30 years of experience in managing and coordinating the operations department which oversees trade settlement issues, portfolio management systems and interfaces with the trading desk and portfolio management team. Additional responsibilities include: commission reporting, portfolio reconciliations and facilitating client's operational requests. Ms. Holden's career with Wall Street Associates began with its inception in 1987. Previously, Ms. Holden was employed by the founding principals at California First Capital Management and California First Bank (currently Union Bank) in a similar capacity. Ms. Holden attended St. Cloud State.
BRETT A. HYLAND - Vice President, Marketing
Mr. Hyland is responsible for marketing the firm's investment management services. He also supports the firm's client service efforts and serves as a member of the Investment Strategy Group. Mr. Hyland has 20 years of marketing experience in serving the institutional marketplace, including 6 years with US Bank and 4 years with Safeco Asset Management Company. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, majoring in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Interpersonal Communication.
KIMBERLY A. TAYLOR - Senior Vice President, Client Service
Ms. Taylor is responsible for the firm's client service activities and is a member of the Investment Strategy Group. Prior to joining Wall Street Associates in 1993, she worked for seven years in the pension consulting division at Wilshire Associates where her responsibilities included client servicing for large corporate pension funds and equity manager research. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA, majoring in Economics with an emphasis in Finance.