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SSI Investments Team

Our Professionals

SSI’s success would not be possible without our most important asset – our people

Executive Management

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Syed Mehdi, CPA (inactive)

President, Chief Compliance Officer

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George M. Douglas, CFA

Chief Investment Officer, Managing Principal

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Ravi Malik, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Principal

Investment Team

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George M. Douglas, CFA

Chief Investment Officer, Managing Principal

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Ravi Malik, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Principal

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Florian Eitner, CFA

Portfolio Manager

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Michael J. Opre, CFA

Portfolio Manager

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Kenneth Raguse, CFA

Portfolio Manager

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Stephen Wachtel, CFA

Portfolio Manager

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Dagney Maseda, CFA

Portfolio Manager

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Tim Ruiz

Portfolio Manager

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Alex Volz

Portfolio Manager

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Lily Yu

Trader

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Charles Rambo

Portfolio Research Analyst

Client Services & Marketing

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James Kowal

Senior Vice President

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Elisa Kowal

Senior Vice President

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Robert Peatman

Vice President

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Penny Chou

Assistant Vice President

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Manuel Velazquez de Leon

Associate

Operations & Accounting

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Judy Wang

Managing Director Operations

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Maria Ruiz, CPA (inactive)

Director of Finance

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Thomas Ye

Director, IT and Security

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Helen Moseley

Director Portfolio Accounting

Company Resources

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Syed Mehdi, CPA (inactive)

President, Chief Compliance Officer

  • Responsible for business, legal and compliance matters for the firm
  • Board of Director
  • 24 years with SSI; 4 years as President, 19 years as dedicated Chief Compliance Officer, 13 years as Chief Operating Officer and 6 years as Director of Finance and Operations
  • Prior to joining SSI, Syed worked with the accounting firms of BDO Seidman, LLP and Deloitte & Touche, LLP
  • BS, Accounting, University of Southern California

George M. Douglas, CFA

Chief Investment Officer, Managing Principal

  • Portfolio Manager of the Hedged Convertible strategies
  • 29 years as SSI’s Chief Investment Officer
  • Board of Director
  • Prior to joining SSI, George was Director of Quantitative Equity Investments at CS First Boston Asset Management
  • Named to Institutional Investor’s “All American Research Team” four times
  • MBA, Finance; MS, Statistics; BS, Mathematics, University of Wisconsin

Ravi Malik, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Principal

  • Oversees the daily management of the Convertible Investment portfolios; provides equity and credit research in the Technology and Emerging Markets Sectors
  • Board of Director 
  • 27 years as a Portfolio Manager of SSI’s Convertible Team and the Froley, Revy Convertible Team (acquired by SSI in 2009)
  • Collaborates with CIO in analyzing Global and Macro environments and formulates strategy according to client mandates
  • Prior to joining SSI, Ravi spent 10 years in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), India’s highest level “Think Tank”; he also served as Finance Commissioner to the Andaman Islands
  • MBA, Finance, Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles; BA, Mathematics and Economics, Punjab University

Florian Eitner, CFA

Portfolio Manager

  • Oversees the daily management of the Convertible Investment portfolios and provides equity and credit research in the Healthcare, Industrials, Technology, and Transportation Sectors
  • 25 years of industry experience, 19 years as an Analyst and Portfolio Manager of SSI’s Convertible Strategy and the Froley, Revy Convertible Strategy (acquired by SSI in 2009)
  • Prior to joining SSI, Florian was an Associate in the Leveraged Finance Group at Lehman Brothers Europe. Previously, he was a member of the CTC, LLC options trading group at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
  • MBA, Finance and Student Investment Fund Fellow, Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles; BA, Economics, Northwestern University, Chicago

Michael J. Opre, CFA

Portfolio Manager

  • Oversees the daily management of the Convertible Investment portfolios and provides equity and credit research in the Healthcare, Materials and Consumer Sectors
  • 34 years of industry experience, 21 years as a Portfolio Manager of the SSI Outright Convertible Strategy and the Froley, Revy Convertible Strategy (acquired by SSI in 2009)
  • Mike’s prior experience includes serving as Senior Investment Manager at Wells Fargo and a Research Analyst with Pacific Strategic Fund Group, Inc. specializing in fundamental analysis and risk arbitrage
  • MBA, Finance, Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles; BA, University of California, Los Angeles

Kenneth Raguse, CFA

Portfolio Manager

  • Portfolio Manager of SSI’s Core Equity and Multi-Asset Strategies
  • Responsible for the execution and monitoring of specialized equity portfolios.
  • Member of SSI’s Tactical Asset Allocation Portfolio Team which monitors the Tactical Alpha Signals and manages the Flexible Allocation Strategy
  • Works with CIO on special research projects as it relates to SSI’s Fundamental Research Model (QUEST)
  • 28 years with SSI as an Equity Analyst and Portfolio Manager
  • MS, Finance; BS, Economics, University of Wisconsin

Stephen Wachtel, CFA

Portfolio Manager

  • Portfolio Manager of SSI’s Convertible Investment, Multi-Asset and Core Equity Strategies
  • Provides equity research in Financials, Technology and Consumer Sectors
  • 22 years of industry experience; joined SSI in 2010 as an Equity Research Analyst. In addition Steve worked for Froley, Revy as an Outright Convertible bond analyst for 7 years
  • MBA, Finance and Student Investment Fund Fellow, Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles; BS, Finance, Lehigh University

Dagney Maseda, CFA

Portfolio Manager

  • Oversees the daily management of the Hedged Convertible investment portfolios
  • Focus on credit, high yield and special situation credit research
  • Over 21 years of industry experience as a Trading Assistant, Analyst and Portfolio Manager
  • Names ’50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds 2021′ by the Hedge Fund Journal
  • Elected to the Board of Governors CFA Society Los Angeles, 2022 – 2025 term
  • BS, Finance, summa cum laude, California State University, Northridge

Tim Ruiz

Portfolio Manager

  • Provides equity research in the Utilities, Energy, Materials, Industrials and REITS Sectors
  • Member of SSI’s Tactical Asset Allocation Portfolio Team which monitors the Tactical Alpha Signals and manages the Flexible Allocation Strategy
  • 30 years as an Analyst and Portfolio Manager of SSI’s Equity Team
  • Trader for SSI’s Core and Flex Equity Strategies
  • BS, Finance, California State University, Los Angeles

Alex Volz

Portfolio Manager

  • Oversees the daily management of the Hedged Convertible investment portfolios
  • Responsible for analyzing convertible arbitrage opportunities, trading and daily re-setting of hedge ratios
  • 26 years of industry experience; 20 years with SSI
  • Prior to joining SSI, Alex was a Junior Partner at Southern Trading Partners in Atlanta, GA
  • BA, Economics, Vanderbilt University

Lily Yu

Trader

  • Responsible for the Institutional Convertible Investment Trading Desk
  • Head Trader in long-only, convertible securities; Maintains and further develops all long-only Convertible Institutional Trading Relationships.
  • 28 years as a Trader for SSI’s Convertible Team and the Froley, Revy Convertible Team (acquired by SSI in 2009)
  • BA, University of California, Los Angeles

Charles Rambo

Portfolio Research Analyst

  • Responsible for quantitative modeling, analysis, and automation for the Long-Only Convertible Team
  • Informs investment decisions with equity, fixed income, and credit research
  • MFE, Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles; BA, Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley

James Kowal

Senior Vice President

  • Generalist sales coverage for institutional and private wealth channels
  • Responsible for full coverage of consulting firms, including establishing and developing relationships with research managers and field consultants
  • Serves as an investment team proxy and represents SSI’s investment capabilities to the investment community and for sub-advisory relationships
  • 9 years with SSI. Prior to joining SSI, James served as a Founding Partner and the Director of Operations and Business Development at Global Student Experience for 10 years
  • BA, Economics, University of California at Irvine

Elisa Kowal

Senior Vice President

  • Generalist institutional coverage and exclusive nationwide coverage for Insurance sales, including General Accounts and Pension Plans for Life, Property & Casualty, and Health Companies
  • 11 years with SSI. Prior to joining SSI, Elisa was at Dimensional Fund Advisors as an Associate in Financial Advisor Services (FAS)
  • Elisa began her career working in government including the Economic Section for the United States Embassy in Paris and at the White House in the Office of Presidential Personnel, specifically on appointments to Boards, Commission and Delegations for the President during the Great Recession
  • BA, Economics – Honors Program, University of California at Irvine

Robert Peatman

Vice President

  • Responsible for Sales and Distribution of the Flexible Allocation Models in the Broker Dealer and RIA channels
  • 26 years in the financial service industry developing and executing on distribution strategies for asset manager firms
  • BA Economics St Lawrence University, MBA, Babson College

Penny Chou

Assistant Vice President

  • Responsible for managing RFPs, DDQs, and databases reporting. Works extensively with the consultant coverage team
  • 4 years with SSI. Prior to joining SSI, Penny served as a Marketing Associate at Patterson Capital, responsible for RFP process, consultant databases and completing questionnaires for consultants. Prior to that, Penny served as an Analyst at Power Buying Dealers (PBD) where she was responsible for the creative design and incubation process of new products into the marketplace
  • BA, Economics, University of California, Los Angeles

Manuel Velázquez de León

Associate

  • Responsible for managing client reporting, deliverables, and presentation decks for existing and prospective clients 
  • 3 years of industry experience. Prior to joining SSI, Manuel served as a Private Client Service and Marketing Associate at RNC Genter Capital Management, working closely with the Director of Private Client Division to evaluate client objectives and responsible for portfolio account reviews. Prior to that, Manuel worked in logistics at Organics Unlimited, managing inbound and outbound inventory of warehouse produce 
  • BA, International Business, Pepperdine University

Judy Wang

Managing Director Operations

  • Responsible for the daily management of firm operations and administration
  • 27 years with SSI including “hands-on” experience in all back office operations
  • BS, Finance and Accounting, University of Southern California

Maria Ruiz, CPA (inactive)

Director of Finance

  • Responsible for the daily management of all SSI corporate financial matters
  • 20 years of experience in accounting and finance; joined SSI in 2011 as Controller
  • Prior to joining SSI, Maria worked at KPMG LLP as an Audit Senior Manager. Her previous work experience also includes positions at Grant Thornton LLP and Perelson Weiner CPAs
  • BA, Accounting, City University of New York, Baruch College

Thomas Ye

Director, IT and Security

  • Responsible for the daily management of all Information Systems, including network security, business continuity and IT infrastructure and proprietary systems
  • 22 years of IT experience; 17 years with SSI
  • Prior to Joining SSI, Thom was the IT Infrastructure Manager at Dimensional Fund Advisors
  • BS, Information Technology, American Intercontinental University

Helen Moseley

Director Portfolio Accounting

  • Responsible for managing account reconciliation, partnership accounting, and valuation policies and procedures. Works closely with various departments on the development and adjustment of internal controls and processes to address changes in industry best practices and business needs
  • 14 years with SSI; 9 years as dedicated Portfolio Accounting Director
  • Prior to joining SSI for the second time, Helen worked as an Accounting Manager at Coast Asset Management
  • BS, Economics, University of California