Chris Barris

SSR combines bottom-up stock selection with quantitative risk controls. The Asset Allocation committee formulates the asset allocation strategy based upon the relative attractiveness, variability and correlation between the equity and fixed income markets. The committee reviews a wide range of factors that include forecasts of corporate earnings, liquidity and an assessment of macroeconomic trends. The committee formally reviews allocation targets on a monthly basis. For active equity management they combine bottom-up stock selection based on comprehensive fundamental research with explicit sector weighting decisions and quantitative risk management. Teams manage portfolios. SSR believes that fixed income security prices respond to economic fundamentals in predictable but not perfectly efficient ways. They seek to identify opportunities created by these inefficiencies through fundamental research supported by quantitative risk controls.

Standish Mellon Asset Management Co. is a dedicated fixed income manager that offers a wide range of cash, credit-based and specialty bond strategies. The firm is effectively split into three divisions: the Active Fixed Income Division, the Tax-Sensitive Fixed Income Division and the Stable Value Division. Standish’s Active Fixed Income investment process combines top-down, macroeconomic analysis with bottom-up research to identify attractive securities based on proprietary, fundamental research. Their top-down approach includes macroeconomic research to assess the overall risk environment, and determine broad portfolio themes, industry emphasis, and overall portfolio quality. Standish’s Tax-Sensitive Fixed Income approach has an objective of achieving a high after-tax return on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis versus the benchmark. Their investment process emphasizes the identification of undervalued sectors and securities in the municipal and taxable bond markets. Their focus is to capitalize on yield anomalies among municipal and taxable sectors, identify undervalued securities, and pinpoint relative value between particular bonds. Standish's Stable Value investment process is marked by four key characteristics: a risk-averse style; a disciplined, quantitative approach; a flexible model; and opportunistic management. The objective is preservation of principal and the delivery of stable returns over time.

Functions as a College/University

BSP NY is a credit investor and invests primarily, on behalf of their clients, in the sub-investment grade credit markets. The firm aims to deliver favorable, risk-adjusted returns together with capital preservation. Generally, they seek to meet this objective through intensive fundamental research and credit analysis, combined with active portfolio management to minimize principal losses and impairment of risk capital. However, their methods of analysis do vary depending on the type of client and the investment strategy selected.

Functions as a College/University