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