Young Finance Professionals

Roger Clarke, President of Ensign Peak Advisors, June 29th, Noon, Zions Bank Founder’s Room

Roger G. Clarke currently serves as president of Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc., an investment management affiliate for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also currently serves as chairman of the board of Analytic Investors, Inc., a Los Angeles-based investment management firm.

Roger has authored numerous articles and papers over the years relating to quantitative investment management.  He is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Portfolio Management and the Journal of Investment Management and served previously on the editorial board of the Financial Analysts Journal.  He also serves on the board of the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance.  He is the recipient of three Graham and Dodd Scrolls from the CFA Institute and the Roger F. Murray Award from The Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance.  Roger has been an adjunct professor with the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University where for ten years he served on the full-time faculty.  Roger received a Ph.D. in finance and an MS degree in economics from Stanford University as well as an MBA and a BA degree in physics from Brigham Young University.

Gary Crocker, Chairman of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and President of Crocker Ventures, LLC, April 21st, Noon, Zions Bank Founder’s Room

Gary Crocker initially invested in Merrimack and joined the Board in 2004, and was elected as Chairman in the spring of 2005. Mr. Crocker is President of Crocker Ventures, LLC, a life science private investment firm. He is in the midst of his second term on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Branch of San Francisco and also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Sorenson Capital, an LBO private equity fund. He has held senior executive or director level positions in several successful life science firms including service from 1998 to 2003 as Chairman of ARUP Laboratories, as a director of Interleuken Genetics, Inc, and LineaGen Genetics, LLC., and as a co-founder and director of Theratech, Inc. which was acquired in 1999 by Watson Pharmaceuticals. From 1983 to 1997, he was President/CEO and founder of Research Medical, Inc., a publicly traded cardiac device manufacturer acquired by Baxter International in 1997. Prior to Research Medical, Mr. Crocker was Vice President, Business Development and Director of Marketing for the Sorenson Research division of Abbott Laboratories, and an Internal Strategic Analyst for Baxter International. He was recently inducted into the University of Utah Science Hall of Fame, and serves as a director of the University’s Research Foundation. Mr. Crocker earned both his MBA and also graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Harvard University.

Jeremy Neilson, Managing Director, Utah Fund of Funds, Jan 12th, Noon, Zions Bank Founder’s Room

Mr. Neilson was tapped by State Economic Development to launch the newly born Utah Fund of Funds in 2003. As the first staff member, Mr. Neilson has been working for the program’s success for the past five years, three of which he was the sole management team member.  Mr. Neilson sits on the advisory boards of the Women Tech Council and Upstart Ventures.  Prior to the Utah Fund of Funds, Mr. Neilson was an associate with the University Venture Fund where he spent time working closely with local and national venture capitalists on company due diligence. Mr. Neilson started his professional career at Neilson Elggren, in their Los Angeles office, a fraud and bankruptcy forensic accounting firm, where he worked on a number of matters including Adelphia’s billion dollar bankruptcy and one of Americas largest Ponzi schemes.  Mr. Neilson holds a finance degree from BYU, an MBA from the University of Utah and a Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest School of Law.

Jeff Cardon, CEO, Wasatch Advisors, Oct 26th, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

The Chief Executive Officer of Wasatch Advisors, Jeff Cardon is actively involved with the Wasatch family of funds and has been the Portfolio Manager for the Wasatch Small Cap Growth portfolios since 1986.  He joined Wasatch Advisors in 1980 and has spent his entire career in the field of investment management.

Jeff attended the University of Utah, graduating magna cum laude with a B.S. in Finance. He is a past president and current member of the Salt Lake City Society of Financial Analysts. Outside of the investment world, Jeff is active in philanthropy and enjoys skiing and golf.

Roger McOmber, Partner, Sawtooth Investment Management, Sept 25th, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Roger McOmber is a partner of Sawtooth Investment Management, a hedge fund firm he started with three partners in the Boise area. Roger McOmber began his career on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers as a research analyst in 1990 covering the electric utility industry. During the following 11 years he worked at Oppenheimer, Brown Brothers, and Lehman Brothers as the senior utility research analyst. While at Lehman Brothers, Mr. McOmber was a senior vice president over the equity electric power group covering over 80 companies including electric distribution, generation, natural gas distribution and fuel cell technology. He was twice named the utility sector’s Top Stock Picker by the Wall Street Journal. He was also highly ranked for earnings estimate accuracy.

The Institutional Investor Magazine named Mr. McOmber as one of the top industry analysts. In 2000, Mr. McOmber moved to the buy-side to work at an energy hedge fund. During the past three years, he worked at Nomura as a managing director where he built and managed an energy hedge fund and then with Carlson Capital, L.P., managing a larger utility book. Mr. McOmber has published numerous reports and articles on the electric power industry. He has been featured or quoted by news organizations such as CNN, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He received a BA in American studies from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Utah State University.

Eric Jacobsen, Managing Partner & Co-founder, Dolphin Capital, Aug 19th, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Eric is the managing partner and founder of Dolphin Capital, a boutique private equity fund which focuses on investments in companies with significant growth capital. Eric was CEO of Winder Farms for two years after Dolphin acquired the company and transformed it from a no-growth milk delivery company into the nation’s fastest growing grocery home delivery company.

Before Winder Farms, Eric founded Home Financial Network, a pioneer in the online banking space. That company sold to Sybase in 2000. Mr. Jacobsen also purchased and ran MECA Software, a consumer product tax software company. Under his direction, the company went public and then sold to H&R Block in 1994.

Beyond being an avid entrepreneur, he sits on a number of boards including Ragnar Events, Winder Farms, Dynamic Confections, Little Giant Ladder and St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH.

He is a dedicated adventure racer and recently traveled the world for seven months with his family.

Eric received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

Click Here to view Eric’s Presentation

Bruce Bingham, Founding Partner, Hamilton Partners, May 15th, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Bruce Bingham is a founding partner of Hamilton Partners with the responsibility for overseeing office, industrial and retail development, marketing, leasing, acquisition and management activities in Salt Lake City and Utah.  During the past 30-years, he has been responsible for the development of approximately 5 million square feet of office and industrial properties with a value of approximately $225 million dollars.   Mr. Bingham has had extensive experience in land planning, zoning, entitlement and the development of vacant land and the subsequent use of the property for commercial development.

Prior to joining Hamilton Partners, Mr. Bingham was a partner with the Trammell Crow Company in Chicago.  While at the Trammell Crow Company, he was responsible for the development, leasing and management of suburban industrial properties.

Since moving to Utah to open an office of Hamilton Partners, Mr. Bingham has been involved in the purchase of several office buildings in downtown Salt Lake City including the Newhouse Building, the Boston Building, the Broadway Centre, and the development of a 459,000 square foot Silver LEED certified 22-story office building on Main Street.

Bruce Bingham earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and his Masters in Management from the Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Civic responsibilities in the Salt Lake area include serving on the Executive Committee of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, serving as the Chair of the Downtown Alliance, serving as President of the Days of ‘47 Pioneer Celebration, serving on the Executive Committee of Enterprise Mentors International and serving as President of the English Skills Learning Center.

Greg Miller, CEO, Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, April 21st, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

As chief executive officer of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, Greg Miller oversees all automotive, sports and entertainment, and real estate divisions.  These holdings include 40 automotive dealerships and one motorcycle dealership located throughout six Western states; credit, insurance and advertising agencies; two professional sports teams; a motorsports park and an arena; an independent television station; restaurant and catering companies; a sports apparel retail chain; movie theaters; and an office complex.

Miller assumed his current position in July 2008 but has worked in the family business since 1979, when his father, Larry H. Miller, purchased his first auto dealership – a Toyota store located in Murray, Utah.  Greg Miller, who was 13 at the time, began his career by sweeping floors and working in the parts department.  Since then, the group has expanded into one of the nation’s 200 largest privately-owned companies.

Miller has 29 years experience working in a variety of positions that enabled him to learn the family business firsthand.  During that time, he focused on areas ranging from finance to minor league hockey.  His many accomplishments include: starting up Performance Automotive, which provides chemicals, printing and specialty products to auto dealerships; managing several multimillion dollar construction projects; and serving as general manager of both a Toyota and a Honda dealership.

Prior to his current position, Miller oversaw construction and had operational oversight of Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah.  During his tenure, he was instrumental in developing and improving sales and marketing operations.  The state-of-the-art motorsports park garnered international recognition within its first year of opening.

Miller has served on the boards of several philanthropic organizations including: Larry H. Miller Charities; the Ron Boone Golf Classic benefiting the Huntsman Cancer Institute; the Utah Bicycle Coalition; and the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation.

An avid cyclist, Miller logs thousands of miles on his bike each year, and his interest in cycling led to several family vacations at the Tour de France.  He currently is chairman of the Tour of Utah, a multistage bicycle race that climbs 30,000 feet and is over 300 miles long.  Miller has played a significant role in the race’s growth and success.

During his teens, Miller developed an interest and appreciation of cars that continues today.  He still owns his first automobile, a 1965 Mustang fastback.

Miller has three brothers and one sister, and is the oldest child of Larry H. and Gail Miller.  He is married to Heidi Black Miller.  They are the parents of six children (three sons and three daughters), and their family resides in Sandy, Utah.

Kent Misener, Chief Investment Officer for DMBA, Feb 20th, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founders Room

KENT A. MISENER, CFA, CEO of Crossroads and Chief Portfolio Manager, graduated from Utah State University in 1976 with Bachelor of Science degrees in economics and finance. Kent also obtained his MBA from Utah State University in 1977. Since then, he has served as a bond portfolio manager, treasurer, and, currently, Chief Investment Officer managing over $6 billion in assets for a large private insurance company. Kent has served as a member of several corporate boards and committees including: the Corporate Asset and Benefits Finance Investment Committees for Intermountain Healthcare; the Investment Committee for Beneficial Financial Group; the Investment Committee for Utah State Insurance and Reclamation office; and Chairman of the Board of Deseret First Credit Union. He has appeared as an expert witness concerning market trends and investment returns in state and federal trials. He has also been a guest speaker at national conferences concerning global and national equity markets , and has lectured on the benifits of active investing.

Robert Nydegger, Portfolio Manager for Ensign Peak Advisors, Jan 21st, Noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Rob recently relocated to Salt Lake City and currently works as a portfolio manager for Ensign Peak Advisors.  Prior to this, he worked in New York City for nearly 15 years for Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS across many responsibilities including proprietary trading and investing, research, structuring and investment banking.  For a large part of his career, he focused on opportunities in the Emerging Markets and also in distressed debt.  For the past several years he built and managed Credit Suisse’s special opportunity business which was responsible for proprietary investing across the capital structure.  He is a CFA and graduate of the University of Utah.

Sterling Jenson, CFA, Regional Managing Director of Wells Capital Management, Oct 20th, noon, Zion’s Bank Founder’s Room

Sterling Jenson is a Regional Managing Director of Wells Capital Management, a unit of Wells Fargo & Company. Mr. Jenson is responsible for separate account portfolio management in the mountain region states from Idaho to Texas with combined assets of over $4 billion. Mr. Jenson has extensive experience in both investment management and financial services. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 1990, he worked in various capacities, including Manager of Trust Investments for First Interstate of Nevada and Moore Trust Company; Director of Equity Research for Smoot, Miller, Cheney & Co.; Portfolio Manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Investment Department; and Financial Analyst for Ford Motor Company. Mr. Jenson received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University .

David Carter, Serial Entrepreneur and Experienced Investor - June 26th, Noon, Zions Bank Founder’s Room

Having a long history of both entrepreneurship and involvement with venture capital, David Carter continues to enjoy seeing new technologies reach market adoption. Currently a Manager at private venture firm Upside Investments LLC, Mr. Carter has served on the board and invested in several companies including Cerberian (sold to Blue Coat (NASDAQ: BCSI), Zorch (sold to First Consulting Group (NASDAQ: FCGI), and Oakley Networks (funded by Kleiner Perkins and sold to Raytheon (NYSE: RTN).   Mr. Carter is currently a board member and early investor in CrimeReports, a developer of online law enforcement and public communications technology.  

At one of his own technology ventures, Mr. Carter served as founder, President and CEO of S5 Wireless, a world-leading developer of ultra-low cost, long-range, next-generation wireless location and telemetry technology that is successfully being implemented in consumer, enterprise and government applications.  Under his strategic direction, S5 Wireless has executed key milestones marking core technology developments, creating strategic partnerships, recruiting key management, and raising over $20 million from influential investors.  S5 Wireless is now poised for a strong entrance and leading role in the growing Location-Based Service (LBS) applications market—a sector that ABI Research values at $25 billion dollars by 2010. 

Prior to joining S5 Wireless, Mr. Carter was an Entrepreneur in Residence for Wasatch Venture Fund (Epic Ventures), a Draper Fisher Jurvetson affiliate.  In this role, he consulted the fund’s portfolio companies, providing strategic management expertise and financing support.  

From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Carter was Founder, President and CEO of Thoughtstar, the internet application developer of QuickTeam.  There, Mr. Carter developed the idea for the business’ principal product, QuickTeam.  His efforts led to the eventual enterprise sale of the software to Cisco, and subsequent acquisition of the company by iManage (NASDAQ:  IMAN), now Interwoven (NASDAQ:  IWOV). 

Mr. Carter made his first foray into the world of technology start-ups in 1988 with Vertical Technogies. Under his leadership as founder, President and CEO, the products Bar-One^TM and Barcode Anything^TM were developed and brought to market, quickly becoming the market leaders for retail barcode software.  In 1995, Vertical Technologies received the Utah 100 Award from the Mountain West Venture Group for the 20^th fastest growing company in Utah.  The company was subsequently sold to Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA), where Mr. Carter served as President of the newly created subsidiary.  Under his continued strategic direction, sales tripled in less than six months.   

Today, Mr. Carter is a member of the National Advisory Council for Weber State University, the Technology Advisory Council for Westminster College, and of vSpring v100. He also participates in Utah Angels, the investment committee for Kickstart Ventures, and he sits on the board of a number of charitable organizations.  

Mr. Carter has spoken at numerous industry events and has been quoted in major publications including Financial Times, Forbes, Business Week, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, The Seattle Times, USA Today, Conde Nest Portfolio, Motley Fool, Kiplinger, and many others. 

Mr. Carter received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Weber State University.

Jordan Clements, Managing Partner of Peterson Partners - Apr 23rd, Noon, Zions Bldg Founder’s Room

Jordan Clements has been managing partner of Peterson Partners since its inception in 1995. Prior to co-founding Peterson Partners, Jordan was a partner in a San Francisco Bay Area law firm, where he practiced corporate and business law. He holds a law degree from Brigham Young University. He currently serves on the boards of several portfolio companies, including Energy Solutions and 3form.

 Recap
Jordan spoke of many important principles in buisiness and investing. Among them were:
1) Borrow skills from others to complement your weaknesses.
2) There is no coorelation between successful entrepreneurs and formal education.
3) Beware of excessive goal setting; things can happen outside of your control that
     can prevent you from achieving them.
4) Be patient with your career. Career planning is a process of elimination.
5) The golden rule is definitely true in business. Treating others well is in your best
     economic interest.

Jake Boyer, President of The Boyer Company - March 26th, Noon, Zions Bldg

Jake Boyer took over the position as president in June 2006. Jake has been instrumental in the development of The Gateway, a 2.1 million square foot mixed-use development, one of Utah’s largest mixed-use projects. In addition to The Gateway, Jake also has extensive experience in developing medical, office and retail projects for The Boyer Company. Jake’s community participation includes serving as an Executive Committee Member of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, a Membership Committee Chairman with the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce Alumni Advisory Council, and has President of Valley Services (Valley Mental Health Subsidiary) (2000-2006), New Vision Campaign Chair for M.I.T. Center For Real Estate, and is a lecturer for Brigham Young University, University of Utah, the Urban Land Institute, and the International Convention of Shopping Centers. Jake is also a member of NAIOP. Jake received his Bachelor of Science (Finance Major) from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and his Master of Science in Real Estate Development at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Kent Madsen Managing Director Wasatch Venture Fund

Mr. Madsen is a Managing Director with the Wasatch Venture Fund and Zions SBIC.  He was also President, CEO and Director of MACC Private Equities, a later stage publicly traded private equity firm with interests in multiple industries.

Previously, Kent worked for Ford Motor Company in the Advanced Technology Group.  At Ford, Kent developed mathematical and computational models analyzing vehicle aerodynamics and thermodynamic properties.  He then transferred to China Operations where he helped write, present and negotiate joint venture proposals.

Kent is responsible for the oversight of the following Wasatch portfolio companies:  Pivot Solutions, Q Therapeutics, LeftHand Networks, S5 Wireless, Akimbo, Everdream and Linux Network.

Mr. Madsen has taught courses in Engineering Thermodynamics and co-authored the Solutions Manual for Fundamentals of Classic Thermodynamics.  He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a M.S.E. from the University of Michigan, a M.A. in International Studies, and a M.B.A. from Wharton.

Recap: Kent gave a very informative presentation about venture capital and venture capitalists. He said that although venture capital investments create jobs, boost the economy, maintain competitiveness, and improve the quality of life venture capitalists are all about making money and they like entrepreneurs who aren’t necessarily motivated by money alone but by changing the world (stay away from entrepreneurs who drive a German car). He also said that he looks for revolutionary change in the company’s business model and to avoid analysis paralysis meaning it’s easy to get stuck in the analysis stage for too long and sometimes you just need to “move” and trust your gut.

John Lunt, President and Director of Lunt Capital

John has managed investment portfolios across asset classes for more than a decade.  He has a recognized expertise in constructing portfolios using absolute return investment strategies and alternative asset classes. 

He has been a board member of Utah Retirement Systems, a multi-billion dollar public pension fund, since 2001, and was elected by his fellow board members as board president from 2004-2007.  He was recognized this year by Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s Top 40 under 40.  He completed the Program for Advanced Trustee Studies at Harvard Law School. 

John graduated with honors from BYU with a degree in Economics and received an MBA from NYU.

Click Here to view John’s presentation

Gary D. Kennedy–President and CEO, RemedyMD

Mr. Kennedy is the founder and managing partner of Double Eagle Ventures, a private venture fund. Mr. Kennedy was the first investor in TenFold Corporation, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to TenFold, Mr. Kennedy was President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of PRC, Inc., a systems integration company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Black and Decker. Prior to joining PRC, Mr. Kennedy served in various management and executive positions at Oracle Corporation from its inception including SVP of Oracle and President of Oracle USA. He was one of the first 10 professional employees of Oracle. Prior to joining Oracle, Mr. Kennedy served as a Marketing Manager for Intel Corporation. Mr. Kennedy received a B.A. in Finance from the University of Utah and an MBA from Northwestern.

Recap: We had a great turn out with nearly sixty people attending our inaugural event.  Mr. Kennedy spoke to us about the many facets of risk using lots of colorful personal examples from his career.  In one experience, he enthusiastically told his dad he was going to leave Intel to work for the then little-known Oracle that had a 25% chance of success.  His dad was shocked and retorted that meant a 75% chance of failure.  With the huge success of the software giant, Oracle, Mr. Kennedy showed that playing it safe sometimes is the biggest risk.  We thank Mr. Kennedy for his insightful comments and for sharing his thoughts on risk.