Women of The Street

Copyrighted material – 9781137462893

Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Part I The Research

Introduction: “The Women” 3

1 The Feminine Investing Mystique 7

Part II From Theory To Practice: Public Equity Investing

2 Aim Small, Miss Small: Targeting International Small-Cap Stocks 25 Leah Zell, Founder and Principal, Lizard Investors

3 Quite Contrary: Going Long in Mid-Cap Stocks 47 Thyra Zerhusen, Founder, Fairpointe Capital

4 Getting Extra from Ordinary: Investing Long and Short in Micro- and Small Caps 69 Fran Tuite, Portfolio Manager, RMB Capital Management LLC

5 She Blinded Me with Science: Investing in Biotech 91 Dr. Fariba Fischel Ghodsian, Chief Investment Officer, DAFNA Capital Management, LLC

Credit Investing

6 Puzzling It Out: Distressed Credit Investing 117 Marjorie Hogan, Portfolio Manager and Managing Member, Altum Capital



Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Part I The Research

Introduction: “The Women” 3

1 The Feminine Investing Mystique 7

Part II From Theory To Practice: Public Equity Investing

2 Aim Small, Miss Small: Targeting International Small-Cap Stocks 25 Leah Zell, Founder and Principal, Lizard Investors

3 Quite Contrary: Going Long in Mid-Cap Stocks 47 Thyra Zerhusen, Founder, Fairpointe Capital

4 Getting Extra from Ordinary: Investing Long and Short in Micro- and Small Caps 69 Fran Tuite, Portfolio Manager, RMB Capital Management LLC

5 She Blinded Me with Science: Investing in Biotech 91 Dr. Fariba Fischel Ghodsian, Chief Investment Officer, DAFNA Capital Management, LLC

Credit Investing

6 Puzzling It Out: Distressed Credit Investing 117 Marjorie Hogan, Portfolio Manager and Managing Member, Altum Capital



x ● Contents

7 The Simple Things: Relative Value and Directional Credit Investing 143 Olga Chernova, Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer, Sancus Capital Management

Private Markets: Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Real Estate

8 In the Beginning: Seed and Series A Venture Capital Investing 167 Theresia Gouw, Co-Founder, Aspect Ventures

9 The Pragmatist: Growth Equity Investing 191 Sonya Brown, General Partner, Norwest Venture Partners

10 Mrs. Fix-It: Distressed and Turnaround Private Equity Investing 211 Raquel Palmer, Partner, KPS Capital Partners LP

11 Billion-Dollar Listings: Investing in Real Estate 229 Deborah Harmon, Co-Founder and CEO, Artemis Real Estate Partners

Funds of Funds Investing

12 The Sleuths: Fund of Funds Investing 249 Connie Teska and Kelly Chesney, Founders, Pluscios Capital Management

Part III Investing As and Like a “Girl”

13 Lessons from the “Broad Market” 275

Notes 283

About the Author 291

Index 293



WOMEN OF THE STREET Copyright © Meredith A. Jones, 2015.

All rights reserved.

First published in 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN: 978–1–137–46289–3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jones, Meredith A. Women of the street : why female money managers generate higher

returns (and how you can too) / Meredith A. Jones. pages cm ISBN 978–1–137–46289–3 (hardback)— ISBN 1–137–46289–2 (alk. paper) 1. Women stockbrokers—United States—Biography. 2. Wall Street

(New York, N.Y.) I. Title.

HG4621.J66 2015 332.6082—dc23 2014041238

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.

First edition: April 2015

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America.



Introduction: “The Women”

In 2007, I traveled to Evanston, Illinois, to meet what had up to then been for me an urban legend of the alternative investment industry—women portfolio managers. Sure, I knew that women

portfolio managers existed. I had tracked several women-owned or managed funds in various hedge fund databases for a few of my nine prior years in the industry. This was, however, my first in-person sighting.

Constance (Connie) Teska and Kelly Chesney of Pluscios Capital Management run a fund of hedge funds based in Illinois. I spent all afternoon with them, exchanging ideas, talking markets, and compar-ing investment philosophy. They gave me their history in the invest-ment industry, and I shared mine. We didn’t braid one another’s hair or exchange recipes, but aside from that, it was as deep a bonding experience as I have had in my professional life.

I left that meeting and did what any Southern woman does with good news to share: I called my mom.

Even though my mother is not in the investment industry, she lis-tened intently to my re-cap of the day. From then on, she never missed an opportunity to ask about Connie and Kelly.

“How are The Women?” she would ask. On another day: “What do you hear from The Women? After the market crash in 2008: “Are The Women okay?”

When I look back on her use of that generic terminology, I realize that I am in many ways to blame for her language. My mom, like most people, had only a passing familiarity with the hedge fund industry. She had never heard me, or anyone else for that matter, tell stories



4 ● Women of The Street

about the market exploits of a non-male investment wizard. George, John, Warren, and Julian were familiar names to her. Connie, Kelly, Leah, Nancy, Catherine, Renee, and other female monikers were completely foreign.

My mom is not alone in believing the hedge fund industry spe-cifically, and the money management industry in general, is a man’s world. At the writing of this book, I estimate that there are fewer than 125 female-owned or managed hedge funds out of roughly 10,000 or more funds worldwide. John Coates, senior researcher in neuroscience and finance at Cambridge University, has said that “[e]ven with mas-sive diversity pushes I don’t think there is more than 5 percent women taking risk in the financial world, starting from the trading f loors to the asset managers.” 1 Certainly, there is a wealth of female partici-pants in the hedge fund and investment industries. You’ll often find women marketers, investor relations staff, operations and compliance personnel, or financial officers. Rarely do you find a woman in the driver’s seat as the decision-maker who decides what to buy and sell and when.

As a result, those few intrepid female portfolio managers have had to look pretty far afield to find mentors and role models. One port-folio manager I interviewed as background for this book described her investing idol to me in detail. Nicknamed the “Witch of Wall Street,” this manager’s mentor developed a tried-and-true methodol-ogy for growing and protecting wealth:

invest conservatively • keep substantial cash reserves • don’t let emotion rule your investments •

This investment philosophy served the Witch of Wall Street well, creat-ing a vast pool of wealth estimated to be $2 billion. 2 Unfortunately, this portfolio manager has not been able to meet her mentor and learn her market wisdom directly.

Why didn’t they chat? Because the Witch of Wall Street, otherwise known as Hetty Green, died in 1916.

This female portfolio manager, faced with a dearth of investors who thought and traded like she did, researched a woman who had been dead for nearly a century to use as a role model. Hence, one of the many reasons I decided to write this book.



Introduction ● 5

When people ask why I feel a project like Women of The Street is so important, I can now practically anticipate the questions and objections.

If there are so few women in the industry, why bother? • Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about men who perform well? • Isn’t the sample too small to draw any real conclusions? • Are you a sexist? •

These questions come up so frequently that I now answer them almost by rote.

It has been proven, in my research and that of others, that women invest differently than men, upon whom a wealth of investment research has been conducted. Collectively, women’s approach, which is in many ways similar to Green’s tenets above, has proven profitable and reliable, and it outperforms the industry at large. More women portfolio managers in the investment industry would be good for investors. Being able to choose an investment manager whose approach more closely mirrors your own is also a positive. Diversification of investments, be it by strategy, asset class, or gender, is good for all investors. Deploying some of the techniques that women instinctually use can be beneficial to investors, male and female. The fact that I’m researching women’s unique and potentially valuable investing skill set does not mean I’m a sexist. It simply proves I’m a capitalist.

Finally, providing women with role models who did not own Civil War bonds is crucial to attracting more female portfolio managers. They need to know there is a place for them in an industry that tends to celebrate only big and splashy wins, such as George Soros’ $10 billion bet against the British pound and John Paulson’s $3.7 billion subprime mortgage win.

The investment industry is one in which both the tortoise and the hare exist. Not surprisingly, we hear stories only about the hares who make a big killing on a few risky deals. Even more intriguingly, we all know that at the end of the fable, the tortoise wins. And, as Margaret Thatcher famously quipped, “The cock may crow, but it’s the hen that lays the eggs.” 3

This book celebrates the steady and consistent execution of an investment strategy that results in long-term outperformance. The portfolio managers interviewed exemplify the best traits that women



6 ● Women of The Street

investors tend to exhibit. Their example will help encourage the next generation of women portfolio managers, and their wisdom can inform your investment decisions, no matter what your gender. At the end of the day, I hope you learn from them and that this book makes you invest “like a girl.”



9/11, 65, 202–3, 241, 24413-F stock filings, 20

Accel, 168–72, 186Acorn International Fund, 26, 32,

34–6, 41, 44active capital, 261–4adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM)

swaps, 125Airborne Health, 192, 206, 209Alcoa, 57–9, 63Allegheny/Chicago Trust Talon Fund

(CHTTX), 48, 50–1Allergan, 95Altum Credit Master Fund, Ltd., 118,

123–4, 131Amazon, 167, 177, 186American International Group

(AIG), 20amygdala, 18–19

see also brainAngel List, 178Anheuser Busch, 217annuities, 82–5apartments, investment in, 240–3Apple, 20, 69, 77, 167Aramsco, 202, 204Artemis Real Estate Partners, 229,

236, 238–41, 243, 245Aspect Venture Partners, 168, 171–3

asset-backed lending (ABL), 260–1Aston/Fairpointe Mid-Cap Fund,

48, 50AT&T, 242–3Attends Healthcare, 220

Bailey 44, 208–9Bank One, 250, 257Bankers Trust, 121, 230–3, 235bankruptcy, 78, 85, 140, 148, 160,

162, 196, 212, 218, 226, 234, 243, 261

Barber, Brad, 10, 14–16, 276–7Barron’s magazine, 50, 57, 87, 268Bear Stearns, 10, 118, 121–4, 128–30,

138, 192–5, 197, 236Bear Stearns Asset Management

(BSAM) funds, 129Belo, 60–1Berkshire Hathaway, 117biotech, 91–9, 101, 104, 106, 108–13,

215, 279Birchbox, 171, 182, 184Blair, William, 70Boeing, 59, 119–20, 128bonds, 5, 20, 125–8, 134, 136–7,

139–40, 144, 148–50, 152–3, 156, 159, 161, 259, 276

BorgWarner, 54–5Boston Scientific, 56, 65

Index



294 ● Index

brainamygdala, 18–19cognitive diversification and, 20gender and, 18–19hormones and, 18nucleus accumbens, 19toxicity, 109

Britton, Paul, 131“broad guidelines” for investing,

277–80Brown, Sonya, 191–210, 279, 281

early career, 193–5on growth equity, 198–200on importance of networks, 204–7iXL Ventures and, 195–8on omnivorous investing, 200–4overview, 191–3on return expectations, 207–9on women CEOs, 209–10

Buffett, Warren, 44, 117, 278

Cahill, Larry, 19Capital Adequacy, 157–8Capstone, 131, 133–4Cargill, 145Charles Schwab, 51Chernova, Olga, 143–64, 277–9, 281

Citi Group and, 155–7disciplined approach to investment,

157–62early career, 144–8on educating investors, 148–50on experience and market cycles,

162–4on investing during financial crisis,

150–4overview, 143–4

Chesney, Kelly, 3, 249–72, 277, 280–1on active capital, 261–4early career, 251–3funds business and, 257–61on integrity, 264–8Long Term Capital and, 253–5

on-the-job training, 255–6overview, 249–51on portfolio diversity, 268–70on pulling the trigger, 270–2

China, 32, 83, 171Cintas, 84Citi Group, 155–7Citibank, 123Clement, Douglas, 20Coates, John, 4, 14, 17collateralized bond obligations

(CBOs), 125collateralized debt obligations (CDOs),

117, 126, 128–9, 131–5, 174collateralized loan obligations (CLOs),

117, 135, 137, 148–9, 153, 156, 159

Columbia, 26commercial mortgage-backed securities

(CMBS) loans, 129, 239–40consistency, 88–90controllable situations, 222Crain’s “40 Under 40” list, 212credit derivatives (CDX), 156Credit Suisse, 136cross-asset correlations, 157

DAFNA Capital Management, LLC, 91–2

de Gennaro, Manuele, 15, 17default, 9, 135, 144, 149, 151, 154,

156, 158–60, 164, 255Dendreon, 107Department of Justice, 217Depository Trust & Clearing

Corporation (DTCC), 161diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), 19Dimon, Jamie, 130, 257diversification, 5, 7, 20, 49, 62, 109,

133, 135, 158, 161, 241–3, 245, 250, 255–6, 260, 264, 267–8, 276, 278, 281

Dodd-Frank, 156



Index ● 295

Doyle, Arthur Conan, 249Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), 169,

172

early-stage investors, 168–9, 171, 177–80, 190, 192, 195, 205

Edward Lifesciences, 55–6efficacy, proof of, 102–6Eisen, Steven, 88Electrical Components International,

212Elowitz, Ben, 184emotions, managing, 64–7estrogen, 16, 20, 170Exabeam, 171, 173Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), 64,

77, 159Excite@Home, 242–3Expera Specialty Solutions, 212, 218

Facebook, 76, 167–8, 173, 178, 266fads, 27, 39, 89–90, 189, 277

see also trendsFederal Deposit Insurance

Corporation (FDIC), 236Ferh-Duda, Helga, 15, 17Fiesta Restaurant Group, 88financial crisis

Chernova on, 150, 152–3, 155–9, 161–3

Citigroup and, 155–7credit derivatives and, 153Greece and, 144, 162Harmon on, 229–40J.P. Morgan and, 150leverage and, 153, 158liquidity and, 159North American Breweries and, 218opportunity and, 235–40OTC trades and, 161real estate and, 233–4Zerhusen on, 61

First Boston, 118–21

First Chicago, 250–1, 257First Data Resources, 32Fischel, Nathan, 92FMC, 53, 57Fonstad, Jennifer Scott, 168Food and Drug Administration

(FDA), 100, 107–9food engineering, 93–5forecasting, 13, 79Foreman, Peter, 73FORTRAN, 122FTI, 53, 57

Gannett, 60Gates, Bill, 168Gateway Computers, 196Gaucher disease, 92, 111gender bias, 147General Electric (GE), 196, 213General Motors (GM), 169–70Genta, 107Genzyme, 111–12geography, 20, 186, 232, 238, 240–1,

244Ghodsian, Fariba Fischel, 91–113,

278–9Allergan and, 95–8biotech and, 108–11early career, 93–5on efficacy, 102–6food engineering and, 93–5on health care, 111–13hedge funds and, 98–101overview, 91–2on short investments, 106–8

Gilbert, Alex, 236Ginnie Mae, 125Global Brass and Copper, 224Google, 47, 52, 69, 76, 167, 174, 178Gouw, Theresia, 167–90, 277–9, 281

Accel and, 169–72areas of expertise, 182–6Aspect Ventures and, 171–2



296 ● Index

Gouw, Theresia—Continuedon building value, 176–8on diversification, 174–6on early investment, 179–82on getting back to basics, 172–4overview, 167–9on predicting markets, 186–90

Great Depression, 231Great Recession, 48Greek debt crisis, 144, 162Greenspan, Alan, 128Gross, Bill, 185GTE Automatic Electric, 251Gunthel, Richard, 232Gur, Raquel and Ruben, 19

H&M, 41H&R Block, 62Hamman, Stephan, 18Harmon, Deborah, 229–46, 277,

279–80on crisis opportunities, 235–40early career, 230–5on multifamily investments, 240–2on new cycle, 244–6overview, 229–30on real estate investment risks,

242–4Trump and, 234

Harris Associates, 31–5, 70, 72–3Harris Bank, 48–50Hedge Fund Research, Inc. (HFR),

10–12, 144, 250hedge funds, 3–4, 8–12, 20, 27, 40,

59, 61, 64, 69–73, 85–6, 90, 92, 98, 118, 131–4, 144, 153, 249–50, 252–6, 258, 260–2, 266–9, 271, 277, 280

Hedgefund.net (HFN), 11, 118herd mentality, 20–1, 56–60Heritage Home Group, 212, 226Hewlett Packard, 169Hill, Napoleon, 167

Hogan, Marjorie, 117–41, 277–9, 281Altum and, 131–4on building a business, 122–6on distressed funds, 139–41early career, 119–22on learning to lose, 137–9overview, 117–18on people aspect of business, 126–8on risk, 128–31, 134–7

Hostess, 226HotelTonight, 171, 182, 184Hour between Dog and Wolf, The

(Coates), 17Hurricane Katrina, 87

IBM, 37, 52, 61, 196Icahn, 20Imperva, 168, 171, 175–6, 179, 182,

184Inbev, 217inflection points, 34–5initial public offerings (IPOs), 89, 96,

101, 150, 168, 184, 188, 194–5, 205, 209

interest only/payment only (IO/PO), 121

International Equipment Solutions, 212investment banking, 26, 29, 31, 35,

96, 119, 192–4, 204–6, 211–13, 215, 218, 232–3

IRAs, 21, 276ISDA (International Swaps and

Derivatives Association), 146, 152, 159, 161, 164

iTraxxx, 150iXL Ventures, 192, 195–7, 200

J.E. Robert Companies (JER), 230, 235–6, 239–41

J.P. Morgan, 130–1, 144, 147–8, 150, 155, 250, 258

Jiang, Ping, 20JOBS Act, 89



Index ● 297

Johnson & Johnson, 77, 103juggling responsibilities, 35, 123–4,

192, 223, 235–6, 280

Kahneman, Daniel, 16Keilin and Bloom, 211, 213–16Kendra Scott Design, 209Kickstarter, 178Kidder Peabody, 211, 213–14Kimberly Clark, 220KKR, 197, 232Knowles, 80KPS Capital Partners, 211–12

Labatt USA, 217Landes, David, 33Lehman Brothers, 10, 26, 29–32, 92,

96, 152–3, 162–3, 236leverage

Chernova on, 152–3, 157–9, 164Ghodsian on, 109Harmon on, 231–3, 239, 243–4Hogan on, 129, 136Palmer on, 218Teska on, 265Tuite on, 79, 83, 85Zerhusen on, 61–2

leveraged buyouts (LBOs), 160Lewis, Edward, 211Li Chang, 128Libbey Glass, 71, 82–3LIBOR, 125, 159Lighthall, Nichole R., 18liquidity, 52, 58, 61, 77, 81, 101,

110, 128–9, 132, 134, 137–41, 144, 156, 158–61, 163, 188, 205, 214, 226, 229, 239–41, 244, 249, 256, 269–70, 280

Lizard Investors, 25–7, 34, 42, 44–5Long Term Capital Management

(LTCM), 20long-term investing, 53–6loss ratios, 168, 179–80

Maestripieri, Dario, 15, 18Magna International, 55market cycles, 54, 79, 88, 162–4,

232, 244, 278Marruka, Mike, 167Mather, Mara, 18McDonald’s, 77McGraw-Hill, 62medical devices, 91, 106, 110–11mentoring, 4, 33–4, 70, 73–4,

83, 86, 88, 232, 251, 258, 280

mergers, 30, 60, 194, 196, 202, 217, 258, 260

Microsoft, 61, 69mid-cap stocks, 42, 48, 50, 52, 54,

58, 65–6milestones, 117, 187money managers, women as

admitting mistakes, 21benefits, 7–9biology and, 17–20“broad guidelines” for investing,

277–80cognitive and behavioral reasons,

12–21confidence and, 278conviction and, 21, 278discipline and, 279diversification and, 7, 20, 276gender discrimination and, 281herd mentality and, 20–1investing in people, 279–80juggling responsibilities and, 280keeping and open mind, 279mentoring and, 280need for, 281networking and, 281outperformance of female investors,

9–12overconfidence and, 13–14paths to success and, 281practical application, 22



298 ● Index

money managers, women as—Continued

re-evaluation of investment theses, 278

risk and, 14–15trading, 16, 277–8

Monsanto, 57Morgan Stanley, 162, 193mortgage crisis, 152mortgage-backed securities (MBS),

117, 129motherhood, 280MTV, 194multitasking, 19

see also juggling responsibilitiesmutual funds, 8–9, 32, 35–6, 40,

48, 59, 113My Alarm Center, 208–9

National Institutes of Health, 234networking, 281Northern Trust, 63Norwest Venture Partners, 199–200,

204Novadaq (NVDQ), 113nucleus accumbens, 19

see also brainNvidia, 52

Obamacare, 111Odean, Terrance, 10, 14–16, 276–7Oglebay Norton, 78omnivorous investing, 200–4optionality, 41–3overconfidence, 13–14Overstock, 87over-the-counter (OTC) transactions,

160–1

Packaging Dynamics, 218Palmer, Raquel, 211–27, 279, 281

on bankruptcies, 226–7Depends and, 220–2

early career, 212–15on finding values, 222–4on manufacturing, 224–6on opportunities, 218–20overview, 211–12transition from advisor to investor,

215–18Paquette, Lynn, 123PCA Skin, 192, 206, 208–9Peterson, Peter G., 30pharmaceuticals, 91, 94, 99, 202Pharmacyclics (PCYC), 102, 105Physicians Formula, 192, 205, 209PIKs (pay interest in kind), 150Pluscios Capital Management, 3,

249–50, 255–6, 258, 263practical rules for principal investing,

192–3prepayments, 117, 126, 135Pretty Woman (film), 211price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), 55–6,

66, 91, 97, 106, 249pricing, 111, 120, 151–2, 238, 245, 252Pritzker, Penny, 229, 237Procter & Gamble (P&G), 71, 203,

220–1Psaros, Michael, 213, 224Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), 91

Questcor, 87Quidsi, 186

Reagan, Ronald, 64, 267real estate, 88, 167, 182–3, 195,

229–33, 235–42, 244–6, 276referrals, 172–3regulation, 91, 95, 97–8, 100, 109,

112–13, 156, 158Related Companies, 233relative value, 154, 157, 162, 255,

259–60Release Software, 170Republic Engineered Products, 222



Index ● 299

residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), 128

Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), 235, 239, 244

riskBrown on, 203, 209Chernova on, 143, 148–54,

156–63Chesney on, 256–61, 265–9, 271female investors and, 9, 12, 14gender-specific risk aversion, 14–15Ghodsian on, 102–3, 109–10Gouw on, 173, 179–80Harmon on, 235, 237, 239, 241–6Hogan on, 120, 122, 125–7, 129,

134–41managing risk and finding

opportunities, 62–4Palmer on, 219–20research on gender and, 16–19Teska on, 252–6, 262, 270Tuite on, 74, 80–1, 83, 89Zell on, 31, 36, 40, 42–3Zerhusen on, 62–4

RMB Capital Management LLC, 86Roosevelt, Franklin D., 229Rose, Charlie, 58Ross, Stephen, 233, 235Roth Capital Partners, 92, 96Rothstein Kass, 11, 285n21Russell Mid-Cap, 48, 54, 66Russia, 67, 143–6, 255

SAC Capital, 20Sancus Capital Management, 144SAP, 36–7, 41Sapienza, Paola, 15, 18Schubert, Renate, 15, 17Schwartz, Alan, 194Scott, Kendra, 206, 208–9Sears, 48, 50–1, 62selling, general, and administrative

costs (SG&A’s), 79

Series A investments, 168, 171–3, 175–7, 179–80, 184, 186–7

sexism, 5Shakespeare, William, 47Shapiro, David, 213short investments, 47, 60, 69, 72, 78–9,

81, 84, 88–9, 106–10, 129–30, 140, 149–50, 152–3, 158

short sellingChernova on, 149–50, 152, 158–9Ghodsian on, 106–7, 109–10Hogan on, 129–30, 135, 140Palmer on, 221Teska on, 253, 255, 272Tuite on, 79, 86–9Zell on, 43Zerhusen on, 60

short-term thinking, 26, 37, 43–4Silicon Graphics, 169Sirius Partners, 70, 73, 82, 88small caps, 25–7, 32–40, 42, 52, 77,

81, 87, 277Smith, Scott, 57Smith, Tony, 60Snap Fitness, 192, 206Solomon Brothers, 121sovereign debt, 151–4, 162–4Sparta Systems, 192, 202, 207, 209special purpose vehicles (SPVs), 261Spector, Warren, 121, 138sports, 70, 73–4stress, 17–19, 135, 137, 150–3, 158Summit Partners, 192, 198–200, 204

Talon Asset Management, 48, 51, 70, 78, 85–6

tariffs, 82tech bubble, 88Tech Wreck, 48, 189, 196, 244Teska, Connie, 3, 249–72, 277, 280–1

on active capital, 261–4early career, 251–3funds business and, 257–61



300 ● Index

Teska, Connie—Continuedon integrity, 264–8Long Term Capital and, 253–5on-the-job training, 255–6overview, 249–51on portfolio diversity, 268–70on pulling the trigger, 270–2

testosterone, 15–19, 21Thaler, Richard H., 20Think and Grow Rich (Hill), 167Thinking, Fast and Slow

(Kahneman), 16Tong, Andrew, 20trends, 82, 89, 154, 162, 168, 180,

212, 250, 277see also fads

Trulia, 168, 171, 179, 182–4Trump, Donald, 233–4Tuite, Fran, 69–90, 277–9, 281

on annuities, 82–5on consistency, 88–90day-to-day operations and, 74–7early career, 71–3mentoring and, 74overview, 69–71on owning what you know, 79–82on short selling, 86–7smallcaps and microcaps, 77–9sports and, 74

turnarounds, 69, 211–12, 214, 216, 218, 225–6

TXU, 159

uniform industry, 84United Airlines, 211, 214

Vanguard, 10, 21, 276, 278venture capital, 88, 95–6, 168, 170–1,

173–8, 183, 192, 196–7, 204, 207, 209, 275, 277, 280

volatility, 60–2Volcker Rule, 156

Wall Street Journal, 92, 96, 98, 256, 261, 272

Walmart, 82Wanger, Ralph, 26, 33Waterford-Wedgwood, 224Waupaca Foundry, 224Wausau Paper, 218Wedbush Morgan Securities, 92,

96–9, 110WetPaint, 184Wolf of Wall Street, The (film), 16

Yahoo, 65

Zell, Leah, 25–45, 277, 280“don’t bitch, switch,” 32early life, 27–9on holistic approach, 38–41inflection points, 34–7Lehman years, 29–32on lessons learned, 45on maintaining optionality, 41–3on mentoring, 33–4overview, 25–7on perfect storm for business,

43–5on small cap investing, 37–8

Zerhusen, Thyra, 47–67, 277, 280, 281

CHTTX and, 50–1Harris Bank and, 49–50on ignoring the herd, 56–60on long-term investing, 53–6on managing emotions, 64–7on managing risk and finding

opportunities, 62–4on mid-cap investing, 52overview, 47–9on volatility, 60–2

Zillow, 87, 168Zingales, Luigi, 15, 18Zynga, 190


Women of The Street

Documents