Tomas Perez is currently a Bespoke Analyst at CFRA research.

Previously he was a Senior Associate at KPMG, LLP focused on the insurance industry, on a variety of projects in audit and advisory services for multiple Fortune 500 clients.

Tomas is also a graduate of the Ohio State University, having received a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration with a Specialization in Accounting and a minor in Economics. He is also a licensed CPA in the state of Ohio.

Nick Rodelli is the founder and head of CFRA’s Legal Edge, an institutional investor research product focused on legal and regulatory risk.

Prior to joining the firm, Nick was a litigator and corporate governance counselor at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, a Palo Alto, CA technology sector-focused law firm, and Jenner & Block in Chicago, IL, and a merger arbitrage and special situations analyst at a multi-strategy hedge fund, where he performed merger antitrust, litigation, SEC Enforcement, and regulatory risk assessments, and fundamental analysis. Nick has appeared on CNBC and has been quoted in Barron's, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and other major publications.

Nick holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Veronica Mercier is a Junior Analyst on the Bespoke Team within Forensic Research Services. She conducts in-depth financial analysis and qualitative review of public-facing companies to produce custom reports for clients. Prior to joining CFRA in May of 2019, Veronica worked as a Student Economist in the Division of Insurance and Research at the FDIC where she conducted banking research.

Veronica holds an MA in Economics from George Mason University as well as a BS in Mathematics and BA in Economics from the University of Tampa.

Sel Hardy joined CFRA in October 2019 and is a Fundamental Equity Research Analyst covering several segments within the Healthcare industry including Pharmaceuticals, Managed Health Care, Life Sciences Tools & Services,  Health Care Distributors and Services.

Prior to joining CFRA, Sel worked in Equity and Fixed Income Research at Is Investment, the leading investment bank in Turkey. She analyzed stocks and corporate bonds traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. As an equity analyst she focused on stocks of Hospital Operators, Pharmaceuticals, Industrials, and Hospitality companies and initiated coverage on several new listings, some of which ranked among the top equity investments of the year. Sel started her career in Finance at Credit Agricole Group as an Analyst in the Corporate and Investment Banking division with a focus on M&A and Credit Analysis.

Sel holds a BA in Economics and Politics from Brandeis University. She also holds a MS in Finance from Cass Business School, City University London.

Garrett Nelson is a Senior Equity Research Analyst primarily responsible for coverage of the U.S. Automotive and Beverages industries. He covers the entire Auto supply chain from manufacturers such as Tesla, Ford, and GM to parts and equipment suppliers, retailers, dealerships, distributors, and tire manufacturers. Garrett also follows the Beverage and Tobacco industries, including companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Molson Coors, Constellation Brands, Altria, and Philip Morris. Finally, he follows a handful of large-cap retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Costco.

Garrett has been with CFRA since July 2018. Prior to joining CFRA, Garrett spent over a decade as a sell-side equity research analyst. He was a Senior Equity Research Analyst at BB&T Capital Markets, where he covered the Metals & Mining industry. Prior to that, Garrett was at an Equity Research Analyst at Davenport & Company LLC where he followed the energy sector, including utilities, oil & gas and coal companies. Prior to that, he worked as a proprietary equity trader for three years.

Garrett holds a B.A. Economics and History from the University of Virginia. He has also passed the FINRA Series 7, 55, 66, 86 & 87 exams

Colin Scarola is a Vice President of equity research at CFRA. His responsibilities include fundamental research and recommending investments within the Industrials sector, with emphasis on the aerospace & defense, airlines, logistics, and transportation industries.

Before joining CFRA in 2018, Colin spent three years in real estate private equity investing with Pennybacker Capital in Austin, Texas. This was following Colin’s initial transition into the investment field after four years as a mechanical engineer within the aerospace and building automation industries.

Colin is a CFA charter holder and has an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, cum laude. He also holds a Master of Science in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated at the top of his class.

CFRA truly lives by its principles of clients first, integrity, courage, and excellence. This enables all analysts to focus on what they like doing the most: detailed and independent research with a supportive management team and colleagues who offer a lot to learn from.

The detective work behind understanding and identifying new investment opportunities.

Each day brings varied and exciting challenges, including developments in companies that I research, client queries on particular stocks or sectors, collaborating with analysts in our various offices, or partnering with our sales team and generating insight that our clients can act on.

It's so unusual to find a company that is practically a household name, yet has such ambition and desire to grow. At CFRA, we do just that. Everyone is pulling hard towards the same goal, while continuously executing with the highest of standards. And this while being such an integral part of our clients ’day to day. Whether we’re helping institutional investors navigate ever more complex markets, professional investors preparing for retirement, or retail investors to set their kids up for college, CFRA is there.

The variety; in product management, no two days are ever the same, and that keeps the job fresh and exciting. One minute you’re working with our highly motivated and dedicated sales team to help bring a new customer on board, the next you’re researching the absolute latest technologies, to see how we can leverage them to solve our clients’ problems. Couple that with strong leadership, inspiring colleagues, and fascinating clients; what’s not to like!

In a word? Crazy! I’ll start off by checking in with our stellar engineering teams, to make sure they’re happy with what they’re working on and I’ve given them enough direction - often not the case! Then it’s time to help sales and account managers with anything they’re working on, while also helping them get up to speed with the new features we’ve built. The rest of the day is spent working with different internal teams on special projects that we have for that quarter, and planning out what we have to do in the quarters ahead. Though of course things never go to plan!

The culture of excellence and the work flexibility offered at CFRA are far superior to my past experiences. This creates an environment that makes you want to get up and get things done.

I enjoy enhancing the quality of work done by our analysts through my editorial expertise as well as creating new content that adds value to our clients.

Most days involve rigorous scrutiny of the quality of our research before publication.

CFRA has a strong and supportive culture, and the work is always challenging, rewarding, and motivates you to grow. It is satisfying to see how across every department and team, our colleagues take pride in their work and in serving our clients' needs.

I enjoy collaborating across our research, sales, and account management teams to develop marketing programs that resonate. I am honored to be part of this working environment that supports employees and rewards excellence, integrity, and mutual respect.

Each day is different, but every day includes a combination of interactive discussions, idea-sharing, and learning. Our marketing strategies and programs can range from events, campaigns, and communications to digital marketing and more - which provides for a lot of diversity in who I get to work with and how I spend my time.

What makes CFRA special is our ability to pursue research without any banking or trading conflicts. It's very liberating.

I love to write. The best part of my job at CFRA is the freedom I have to express myself. We are also a very collaborative firm and that is also a fantastic element of my job here.

Every day is different- which is a good thing! But I usually start my day checking the futures ’market to get a sense of how the New York markets will open. Then I check my coverage portfolio for market moving names and new investment ideas. As a publishing analyst I am typically working on a piece of company, industry, or thematic research or mining data for new investment ideas and thematic research.

The ability to provide unique, independent and actionable research across our forensic accounting, legal edge and equity research analyst teams is what truly differentiates our firm from all others. Providing views through all three lenses allows for differentiated idea generation while also offering diagnostic industry and company monitoring for risk assessment, which is unmatched in our industry.

The freedom to provide independent research and provide my findings and conclusions without being influenced by other voices. Working with a great analytical team where insights can be cross-pollinated is also something I thoroughly enjoy and find as a major competitive advantage.

A typical day involves doing analysis on my underlying coverage universe (an equity analyst covers on average 40-50 companies) by staying abreast on key trends, attending / listening to company events / conferences and maintaining models. Significant time is then spent on providing that research insight obtained to our consumers in a well-thought-out manner via our instant reaction research notes as well as in-depth company stock reports. The remainder of my time is spent engaging with clients, often done with presentations, by phone or person.

Michael Dowd is head of global account management at CFRA. He is responsible for leading a global team of dedicated account managers to deliver best-in-class service for CFRA clients, developing the go-to-market strategy for client accounts, and driving user adoption of CFRA research.

Prior to joining CFRA, Mike served as the Director of Client Services and a member of the Senior Management Team at SNL Financial before the firm was acquired by McGraw-Hill in 2015. Following the acquisition, he built a Global Renewal Operations Team at S&P Global to facilitate a shift to avalue-based commercial pricing model, and led successful Relationship Management Teams in the non-financial Corporate client segment.

Mike holds aBachelor of Science, Business Administration from the University of Vermont, and a Master of Business Administration from Union College, with a concentration in Finance and International Business.

Ken Leon is Director of Equity Research at CFRA, responsible for analytical research as well as client servicing. As a subject matter expert, his research industries include Diversified Banks and the Housing Market, with coverage of Homebuilding, Home Improvement Retail, Home Furnishings and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
Ken is a thought leader that provides ongoing in-depth research and communications to key customer segments. He is active with most media networks and leading print media, and is sought for his investment views on the large banks and housing market trends.
Ken previously held the position of Global Director of Research and Industry Analyst for S&P Global Market Intelligence. Prior to joining CFRA, Ken spent over two decades in equity research with research leadership responsibilities at ABN Amro, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers. He was a three-time Institutional Investor All-Star for his coverage of Wireless Telecommunications Services.
Ken holds both a Bachelor of Science degree and an MBA from New York University. He was also licensed in the State of New Jersey as a Certified Public Accountant.

Kevin Huang is an equity research analyst and is primarily responsible for providing analytical coverage of several industries within health care, which includes biotechnology, medical devices, health care providers and services, and health care technology. His role involves keeping up-to-date with health care policy and regulation, industry trends, and technological advancements.

Prior to joining CFRA in 2016, Kevin worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior associate in Risk Assurance.

Kevin holds a BSBA in Finance and Accounting from the Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

Colin Scarola is a senior analyst at CFRA. His responsibilities include fundamentalresearch and recommending equity investments within the Health Care sector, with emphasis on the pharmaceutical supply chain, health plan providers, and the life sciences industry.

Before joining CFRA in 2018, Colin spent three years as an investment analyst in real estate private equity with Pennybacker Capital in Austin, Texas. He transitioned into the investment field following four years as a mechanical engineer within the building automation and aerospace industries.

Colin has completed the CFA curriculum and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, cum laude. He also holds a Master of Science in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated at the top of his class.

Chris Kuiper is a senior equity analyst at CFRA, conducting fundamental analysis and valuation assessments within the Consumer Finance, Capital Markets, and REITs areas.

Prior to joining CFRA in 2017, Chris worked as an analyst for a large-cap value fund. Chris also worked as a fundamental analyst for Calamos Investments, and a credit analyst for TCF Bank. He also previously worked as a research fellow for the Mercatus Center, a research center at George Mason University, where he wrote and published on public policy issues.

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree from Dordt College and a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University. Chris Kuiper holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Stewart Glickman is head of the Energy sector team and senior equity analyst at CFRA. He is responsible for analytical coverage of the Energy sector across the value chain. Stewart has held the positions of Sector Head of the Energy and Materials teams and Industry Analyst for S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Prior to joining S&P Global, Stewart worked in strategic consulting with Monitor Company and in economic consulting with Law and Economics Consulting Group and National Economic Research Associates, Inc.

Stewart holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, a Master of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Victoria, and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Stewart is a CFA charterholder.

Paige Meyer is an equity research analyst at CFRA. She is responsible for providing differentiated and actionable research and recommendations on equities in the Energy and Utility sectors. Paige’s areas of focus include: exploration and production, energy equipment and services, drilling, midstream, and gas utilities. She also authors two top-down industry primers: Energy Equipment & Services, and Gas Utilities.

Prior to joining CFRA in 2017, Paige gained her broad experience in the integrated oil and gas industry, working for Royal Dutch Shell. She had the opportunity to work across multiple business lines, including the upstream (onshore natural gas production), downstream (refinery), and global trading businesses.

Paige also has experience in consulting, focusing on credit risk.Paige holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Tim is a forensic equity analyst, covering Asia-Pacific compannies. Tim is responsible for helping CFRA’s clients better understand underappreciated differences between financial results and underlying economic reality. Tim joined CFRA as a member CFRA’s bespoke research team, and after spending a little over a year with this team, he transitioned to CFRA’s proactive idea generation team.

Prior to joining CFRA in 2017, Tim spent four years at KPMG in their Deal Advisory and Audit practices. Tim holds a master’s degree in Accounting and a B.S. in Business from Ohio State University. He is also a CFA and a licensed CPA.

Brendan McAuley is head of global wealth management sales. He leads a global team of senior salespeople tasked with establishing and growing relationships with key Registered Investment Advisory and Wealth Management firms, Banks and Broker/Dealers.
Brendan joined CFRA in 2015 and previously lead the CFRA’s Institutional Account Management team in the US, and continues to manage some of the firm’s largest relationships. Prior to CFRA, Brendan was a Director of Institutional Research Sales at Oppenheimer & Company and an Institutional Relationship Manager at Dreyfus Funds.
Brendan holds his MBA from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and his BA in from Sacred Heart University.

Lili Mehta is head of global marketing at CFRA, responsible for developing and executing strategies to build the company's brand, generate leads, identify opportunities to reach new market segments, and expand market share. Prior to joining CFRA in 2018, Lili served as Executive Director Of Marketing at Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) where she designed and implemented marketing strategies and programs to increase market penetration across institutional investor market segments globally. Prior to serving in that role, Lili served as an independent marketing consultant for several large and high-profile B2B organizations, providing product and strategic marketing services under long term consulting engagements.

Lili graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science and holds an MBA from George Washington University.

Beth Piskora heads editorial operations for CFRA. She serves as the editorial director for CFRA’s MarketScope Advisor website, as well as CFRA publications like The Outlook (an investment-oriented website and weekly newsletter) and Industry Surveys (extensive reports on several dozen industries). Beth and the Editorial team review and vet all equity analyst-written content to ensure high-quality standards. In addition, Beth works closely with colleagues in Research, Technology, Sales & Marketing and Finance to brainstorm new content initiatives and bring them to fruition.
Earlier in her career, Beth was an award-winning business reporter/investing columnist for the New York Post, the oldest daily newspaper in the U.S. Beth started her editorial career as a reporter for the American Banker, a daily trade newspaper.
Beth holds a B.A. in Communications from The Pennsylvania State University.

Ishtmeet is the Vice President of Engineering at CFRA where he defines technology strategy and leads the application and infrastructure teams to build cutting edge tools for CFRA’s analysts.
Prior to joining CFRA in 2019, Ishtmeet has worked in various companies like Amazon, Capital One and Fannie Mae as Senior Technology executive. In his prior role as Vice President of Software Engineering at Gannett Co Inc, he led the digital content technology group. In this role he had overall responsibility for defining technology strategy and executing business alignment by delivering software solutions. This including an in-house SAAS content management solutions used by 100+ Gannett Newspapers across the nation. In addition to his prior company experiences, Ishtmeet also served as Captain in the Indian Army for six years.
Ishtmeet graduated from MGM College of Engineering in Nanded, India with BE in Computer Sciences and holds an MBA in Finance from Stern School of Business, New York University.

Chris Schenkkan is the head of Finance at CFRA, were he leads the company’s global financial affairs including statutory financial audits, budgeting/forecasting, tax compliance, monthly accounting closes, and accounts payable. Prior to joining CFRA in 2017, Chris was the Associate Director, Content Management at SNL Financial (now part of S&P Global) where he worked for twelve years to help the business scale to $250 million in revenues and over 3,000 employees.
Chris graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics and holds an MBA from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia.

Will Suess is a senior quantitative analyst and head of the quantitative research for CFRA. Will joined CFRA in April 2018 after leading quantitative strategy for a Registered Investment Advisor and a Long-Short Equity Hedge Fund. Prior to that, Will served as a consultant to quantitative institutional investors to develop alpha and risk models. Will graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.B.A in Finance and Economics. Will is a CFA Charterholder.

Aniket Ullal is VP, ETF Data and Analytics for CFRA, one of the world’s largest providers of independent investment research. Aniket founded First Bridge Data, a leading source for global ETF data and analytics that was acquired by CFRA in August 2019. Prior to starting First Bridge, he had product management responsibility for S&P’s US indices, including the widely followed S&P 500 and S&P/Case-Shiller indices. These indices have over $1Trillion in ETF assets tracking them. Aniket is the author of 'ETF Investment Strategies' (McGraw-Hill; 2013). He is a graduate of Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.

David Ibbeken is CFRA’s General Counsel overseeing the company’s legal, regulatory and compliance matters.
David joined CFRA in 2016 having previously served as Assistant General Counsel for S&P Global Market Intelligence, and as Senior Counsel for SNL Financial immediately prior thereto, where he handled a wide variety of legal matters.
David graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics and holds a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Giles Flower is head of global institutional sales, where he is responsible for the having the right team in place to reach our new business targets. This includes managing sales teams in North America, Europe and Asia, and ensuring they have strong pipelines to reach targets. In addition, Giles is responsible for managing his own sales territory in EMEA.
Prior to joining CFRA in 2011, Giles worked for 10 years on the sell side at Collins Stewart (now Canaccord Genuity) in sales and analyst roles within their Quest team.
Giles holds a Bachelors of Arts (Hons) degree from Kingston University, London.

As Chief Investment Strategist, Sam Stovall serves as analyst, publisher, and communicator of CFRA’s outlooks for the economy, market, and sectors.  He is the author of The Seven Rules of Wall Street and The S&P Guide to Sector Investing. He also writes weekly “Sector Watch” and “Investment Policy” reports on CFRA’s MarketScope Advisor platform, and maintains the Industry Momentum and Seasonal Rotation portfolios. His work is also found in CFRA’s flagship weekly newsletter The Outlook.

Prior to joining CFRA, Sam was Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist at S&P Global for more than 27 years and served as Editor-in-Chief at Argus Research, an independent investment research firm in New York City.

He received an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University and a B.A. in History/Education from Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pa. Sam is also a Certified Financial Planner.

Sam’s volunteer efforts center on financial literacy. He is a board member of W!SE (Working in Support of Education), an educational not-for-profit that aims to improve the lives of young people through programs that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and careers. He is also a Trustee of Muhlenberg College.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @StovallCFRA

Lindsey Bell is an Investment Strategist at CFRA. Along with the Chief Investment Officer, she determines CFRA’s asset class allocation and equity sector level recommendations. She participates in projecting the firm’s 12-month S&P 500 price target. Her market observations and sector opinions are expressed in regular writings on CFRA’s MarketScope Advisor (MSA) platform. She oversees CFRA’s portfolio management committee which manages five portfolios of stocks. Finally, she also assists in authoring monthly European and Asian Investment Policy Committee (IPC) notes, also available on MSA. She is a frequent guest on FoxBusiness, CNBC, Bloomberg and Yahoo! Finance, etc.

Prior to joining CFRA, Lindsey worked as an Investment Strategist with S&P Global within the Investment Advisory Services division. She worked in several different capacities at TheStreet.com before that, from helping to manage Jim Cramer’s small and mid-cap Charitable Trusts, to leading trader blog conversations and writing research. She learned the ropes as an equity research analyst at J.P Morgan and Deutsche Bank covering retail companies, and began her career in investment banking with Jefferies & Company’s Mergers & Acquisition group.

Follow Lindsey on Twitter: @LBellCFRA

Tuna is Director & Industry Analyst at CFRA. He is responsible for general oversight of the firm’s Consumer sector strategy and recommendations by a team of equity analysts, for hundreds of securities. He covers companies in the Internet Retail universe such as Amazon and Netflix, as well as media companies such as CBS, Comcast and Disney. Tuna previously held a similar position at S&P Global Market Intelligence where he led a core team that created and implemented a proprietary S&P Core Earnings® framework, also serving on the firm’s Analytical Policy Board. He currently authors a biannual industry survey called “Media”.

Prior to joining CFRA and S&P Global, Tuna was a Senior Equity Analyst at Lehman Brothers, New York. He participated in key decisions by the firm’s Investment Policy Committee and was highly instrumental in managing a multi-capitalization equity portfolio, with primary focus on the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sectors. Tuna also gained extensive global consulting experience in his previous roles at Arthur Andersen and KPMG.

Tuna earned an MBA in Finance from the Strathclyde University Business School in Scotland, U.K. He also holds a B.Sc. in Accounting from University of Nigeria as well as LL.B. (JD). Tuna is a CFA charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Peter is the CEO at CFRA where he is responsible for the global strategic leadership of the firm. Peter acquired CFRA in March 2013. Previously he was Executive Managing Director at S&P Global. Prior to this role, Peter was Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and Vice President at JPMorgan where he helped develop leading Financial Technology investment banking practices. In addition, Peter was Vice President with LabMorgan, a JPMorgan venture capital division investing in financial information and technology companies. Peter graduated from Union College with a BA in Economics and holds an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Theresa is the CFO & COO at CFRA, leading the company’s global financial and operational affairs. Theresa was most recently the Senior Director of Finance, Corporate Controller for SNL Financial (now part of S&P Global) where she worked for approximately ten years in helping the business to scale to $250 million in revenues and over 3,000 employees. Prior to SNL Financial, she was Director of Business Management with LexisNexis and a Consulting Manager with Grant Thornton LLP. Theresa graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Mathematics and holds an MBA from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary.

Dan is the Chief Revenue Officer of CFRA where he oversees the company's global sales and marketing efforts. He has over 20 years of experience in sales management, team building and partner development including roles as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at WealthEngine and CEO of GMI Ratings, an independent provider of global corporate governance, forensic accounting and ESG ratings and research. As CEO, Dan led the company to a successful exit for shareholders through a sale to strategic acquirer, MSCI, Inc. He also served as Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) where he helped significantly increase revenues and actively participated in the sale to RiskMetrics Group (now part of MSCI, Inc.). Dan graduated from the University of Maryland and holds an MBA from Baruch College.

Zach is President at CFRA, overseeing the firm's intellectual property and client activities including research, analytics, data, client coverage, and marketing. He previously served as Global Head of Research at the company from 2015-2019 as well as Head of the Financial Institutions Research team. Prior to returning to CFRA in 2013, Zach was with Paulson & Co. and Paulson Europe where he covered financial institutions globally. He has worked in microfinance internationally and testified before the U.S. House and Senate on small business lending and development. Zach graduated from Brown University with BAs in Political Science and Italian Studies and holds an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He is a CFA charterholder.

Eram is the CTO and Chief Product officer at CFRA where he defines product strategy and leads technology innovation leveraging his 15 years of experience delivering commercially profitable client-centered solutions. Prior to joining CFRA, Eram was Senior Director of Commercial Solutions at Fitch Solutions for buy and sell-side markets. As Global Head of Desktop Product Development, he developed the strategy and launched the flagship Fitch Connect Web and Excel platform that accounted for over $100M of revenue targeting counterparty credit and credit markets. Prior to Fitch, Eram held product development roles at S&P Global and other information services firms. Eram graduated from Washington University in Saint Louis with a BS in Marketing & Strategy and holds an MA in Cognitive Science from Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Todd Rosenbluth is Senior Director of ETF and Mutual Fund Research at CFRA where he leads the firm’s holdings-based research efforts within the Equity Research and Fund group. Todd publishes regular thought leadership content on equity and fixed income products, maintains the quantitative fund models and supports client needs. He also serves as a member of Portfolio Strategy Committee and the Investment Policy Committee. Todd also held the position of Senior Director of ETF and Mutual Fund Research for S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Prior to joining CFRA, Todd previously served in other financial positions at S&P Global, such as International Mutual Fund Sector Specialist, Large Cap Value and Large Cap Growth Analyst and has served on the Fund Services Asset Allocation Committee. Prior to joining S&P Global in 2001, Todd was managing editor of Value Line Mutual Fund Survey and Senior Large Cap and Small Cap Value Mutual Fund Analyst. He was also a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley.

Todd holds a B.G.S in Finance from the University of Michigan and an MBA in Finance from New York University.

Follow Todd on Twitter at: @ToddCFRA

Mike Down is Head of Global Account Management at CFRA. He is responsible for leading a global team of dedicated account managers to deliver best-in-class service for CFRA clients, developing the go-to-market strategy for client accounts, and driving user adoption of CFRA research.

Prior to joining CFRA, Mike served as the Director of Client Services and a member of the Senior Management Team at SNL Financial before the firm was acquired by McGraw-Hill in 2015. Following the acquisition, he built a Global Renewal Operations Team at S&P Global to facilitate a shift to avalue-based commercial pricing model, and led successful Relationship Management Teams in the non-financial Corporate client segment.

Mike holds aBachelor of Science, Business Administration from the University of Vermont, and a Master of Business Administration from Union College, with a concentration in Finance and International Business.

Matthew is Vice President of Equity Research at CFRA. He is responsible for providing differentiated and actionable research and recommendations on equities in the Materials and Industrials sectors. Matthew’s areas of focus include: metals & mining, construction materials, containers & packaging, and building products. Matthew previously held the position of Industry/Equity Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Matthew joined CFRA in 2016 and S&P Global in 2014, after working on the buy-side as an Equity Analyst at London Capital Management in London, Canada, where he covered North American stocks in the Energy and Consumer Staples sectors. Prior to joining the equity research industry, Matthew worked as a Financial Analyst for companies in both the retail and fitness areas.

Matthew holds his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Colorado State University and his MBA from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He is also a CFA charterholder.

John is Vice President of Equity Research. He joined CFRA in April 2019. He is responsible for fundamental equity research and analysis covering several segments within the Information Technology and Communication Services sectors, including enterprise software and SaaS/cloud providers, Internet advertising/social media platforms, and game developers.

Prior to joining CFRA, John co-founded Samadhi Capital Partners, an investment advisor and equity research firm where he developed an investment process and framework targeted at tech sector equities, with a particular emphasis on gauging the impact of and identifying the long-term winners from artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, and related developments categorized under the larger “cognification of software” mega-trend. Before his entrepreneurial stint, he served as Senior Analyst and Portfolio Manager at Sands Capital Management, responsible for the firm’s investments within the tech sector.

John began his career in equity research with an independent equity research firm, Precursor, where he was ranked as the top analyst covering network equipment stocks among independent research firms. He also spent the first dozen years of his career in various roles within the tech industry. During this time, he published dozens of white papers and research reports on topics ranging from network processors, Virtual LAN (VLAN) technology, and the historical evolution of enterprise application architecture.

John graduated from Harvard University with a BA in East Asian Studies.

David is CFRA’s General Counsel overseeing the company’s legal, regulatory and compliance matters. David served previously as Assistant General Counsel for S&P Global Market Intelligence, and as Senior Counsel for SNL Financial immediately prior thereto, where he handled a wide variety of legal matters. David graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics and holds a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Heather is the Global Head of Talent, driving Talent strategy and related matters across the globe. Heather was most recently the Senior Director of Human Resources at SNL Financial (now part of S&P Global) where she worked for approximately 19 years helping the business scale to $250 million in revenue and over 3,000 employees. Prior to filling the HR role at SNL, Heather worked as the Director of SNL’s Content Operations. Heather graduated from Mary Baldwin College with a BA in Business Administration.

CFRA has the best corporate culture I’ve experienced in my long career, and it cascades down from the CEO to all employees. There’s a pride and a tireless purpose to be the best, but never at the expense of integrity.

My favorite part of my job is heading analyst training. We host several training sessions each quarter on exciting topics like effective research writing, statistical analysis, valuation, and complex forensic accounting. And while we bring in external resources when needed, we have so many highly accomplished professionals and academics working at CFRA that enjoy cross-pollinating skills to other employees.

That’s a tough question. I think one of the reasons I’ve been working as a research analyst for nearly 20 years is that every day is different.

The diversity of views (both long and short) across the company, which drives prudent decisions free of bias. A rarity in our business.

That the delicate balance of skepticism, curiosity and conviction can often be rewarded if correctly executed.

What makes your days at CFRA different than other jobs you have had?
At CFRA, your opinions and suggestions go further, which was something I had not experienced when working at larger corporations.

You always hear how first impression is the most important one. When I joined CFRA some 18 months ago, it was in a midst of a large RFP in EMEA. We had extremely tight deadline and very complex proposal to make. I was new, nobody knew me and I needed a lot of support. I am still amazed how everyone came together to help. Every department pitched in and went for that famous extra mile to meet the deadline. Still today, there is not a one single person I could not reach out to if I need help. In essence, that is what makes CFRA special.

Independence. I am given the goals and know exactly how I’m measured, but I have the autonomy over my responsibilities and daily tasks.

Everyone shares the same values and is dedicated to the mission. Many companies talk about breaking down their silos, but here people do whatever it takes to get the job done – even if it’s not written in their job description. No egos, no politics. This is a first for me.

Having worked with a large multinational corporation for close to a decade, I can testify that CFRA feels a lot more close-knit, where what each and every individual does is important and plays a part in the overall direction of the business. As we continue to grow, I believe it is very important to maintain this aspect of who we are.

Even after being in research for close to 15 years, I'm happy to find that there will always be new things to learn on a daily basis, new ways of doing things, new challenges to tackle, whether strictly in research or in the day-to-day management of CFRA Malaysia.

I think the degree of freedom and flexibility in conducting research, coupled with the emphasis on integrity, performance and excellence, provides a healthy working environment which encourages collaboration, analytical rigor and a continuous drive for incremental improvement, while remaining cognizant of the need for work-life balance.

People…even though I don’t get to work with everyone in our office as we expand and offer more products, I truly feel we are all on the same team, working towards the same goal of keeping our clients first in all that we do, by collaborating with each other to produce the best quality products that add value to our clients.

Clients…Helping clients uncover risks in their investment decisions and thereby save money. It is really fun to uncover situations where management of public companies are trying to mislead investors.

People…I enjoy the work that I do, but more importantly I enjoy working and collaborating with our team.

There are numerous things, but one that stands out to me is the people. As a smaller company, everyone is willing to wear whatever hat is needed on any given day and do it well. I like the relaxed atmosphere combined with the fact that everyone is willing and able to buckle down when necessary. And, I think that’s embodied in our corporate culture where integrity and excellence are the expectation.

A couple items. First, I really am thankful to be able to apply my education directly into my work. That has not always been the case in my career. Second, I’ve really enjoyed leading the financial audit process across all of our entities with our external auditors. It’s been a great learning process and has allowed me to develop a keener understanding of our financials across the company.

I work more closely with the senior management team on a more consistent basis. The insight into corporate strategy, goals, and performance has been welcome from a knowledge, understanding, and alignment perspective.

A true sense of vision and goals permeates through the entire organization.

Creating and reinventing Industry Surveys and the Outlook newsletter provides immediate feedback and personal/professional satisfaction.

Editing and collaborating with my editorial teammates for our Outlook issue takes up parts of my day; however, moving our 8-9 monthly surveys forward to an on-time delivery takes up a great deal of the day.

Differentiation, Quality and Independence – The CFRA product differentiation and quality makes the firm so special and superior versus the competition. While having spent many years previously on the sell side, I have learned that the true independence of the CFRA research is what really sets us apart.

Meeting so many intelligent and varied people. There are so many different cultures and styles both internally at CFRA and externally, that I am always learning something new.

There is no typical day, which is what keeps me so focused. My job has so much variety, from sales, account management, team management, client and prospect meetings, and much more. It keeps me fresh and excited for the next day.

Entrepreneurial culture with great professionals to drive quality and growth for the firm. Everyone is empowered to be a stakeholder in CFRA's success.

Finding a new research idea on industry trends or company drivers that can be vetted with CFRA's forensic and industry analysts.

As an early bird to our New York office, I am multitasking in a variety of areas that covers my own research coverage, collaborating with other equity analysts or market strategists, responding to customer research requests, participating in sponsored webcasts, mentoring other analysts, partnering with sales and marketing, and handling media activity.

The culture, values, and people at CFRA represent a company that I am proud to work for. One of my favorite aspects of research is that there are always additional insights to discover. I feel that curiosity is encouraged, and I am motivated by the expertise of my peers.

The opportunity to engage with such an expansive coverage universe on the Bespoke Team. Each project is different, and we get to collaborate with internal industry experts to gain and share insights.

Each day is different depending on the stage of the research process, but usually entails diving deep into financial analysis and qualitative review of public-facing companies and sharing interesting findings with the team.

We are an independent research firm, meaning we can bring forth our best ideas with integrity, knowing that our interests are aligned with that of our clients. Also, the people at CFRA are great to work with.

The energy of the markets – always keeps you on your toes.

There is no typical day. The markets re-value stocks every day, creating new opportunities. Each day brings unique challenges, with new data and news to consider in our theses.

Even when I started and CFRA was a very small division of a much smaller company, there was always a team aspect to CFRA that meant we would all work together to accomplish the task. While the team is bigger today than it was then, we’re all working to get the best research and ideas out to clients, not competing with each other for who can be best.

I like the varied topics that I can cover—one day, I may be working on antitrust issues in a major merger, the next a contract dispute, and the day after that a patent infringement case.

I frequently spend my time reading court filings, transcripts, and other documents, then writing analysis for clients. Other times, I’m talking to clients on the phone or in person, or attending court or administrative proceedings, sometimes as the only member of the public present.