On Wednesday, December 7, Jeffrey Bryden (CFA), President and Chief Investment Officer, JB Investment Management, Brookfield, Wisconsin, visited Dr. Krause's Fixed Income and AIM classes. Dr. Krause said, “Jeff is highly knowledgeable and the students enjoy his presentation each semester. They appreciate his ability to bring all of the elements of fixed income analysis into his presentation. He’s a great speaker to bring into the classroom at the end of the semester – he puts it all together very nicely.”
JB Investment Management was founded in 2008 by Mr. Bryden. Based on his experience obtained over 30 years, he believes that combining the active management components available in the fixed income markets together with an effective, passive, index based approach available in the equity markets, allows investors to achieve the most successful and consistent investment results. He and his colleagues at JB Investment manage more than 100 separate accounts.
Dr. Krause continued, "Jeff was the final fixed income speaker of the semester and he brought an interesting, practitioner perspective. He has managed a wide variety of bond portfolio strategies over the years and he was able to effectively put into context for the students his approach as to how fixed income portfolios should be constructed to fulfill the client's specific goals and objectives. He talked about how bond portfolios can be managed to provide income, control volatility, and match liability needs for fully taxable investors and non-taxable organizations."
Jeff Bryden graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Science Degree from Ball State University in 1978 with dual degrees in Finance and Economics. Upon graduation he accepted a position with M&I Investment Management Corp. as their first Portfolio Manager dedicated to managing fixed income portfolios. He has also worked with Fiduciary Management; Reinhart, Mahoney & Bryden Capital Management; and Campbell Newman Asset Management. In 2008, Mr. Bryden founded JB Investment Management and established and developed a team of experienced investment professionals dedicated to providing unique expertise and customized investment-grade fixed income strategies together with passive index-based equity strategies. Assets under management have grown to over $500 million during the first 30 months of business.
Dr. Krause concluded, "Jeff talked about his firm's approach to fixed income management and how they monitor bond portfolio performance. He broke the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Index into the various sub-components and he discussed the different duration and credit profiles of the various indexes - as well as how he views alpha generation. This was a very useful lecture for the students because we are currently covering bond portfolio management and performance measurement. It is great to have the practitioners into the classroom because they bring the material in the Fabozzi CFA fixed income text to life."
"Jeff is an experienced fixed income manager and the students appreciated his strategy and process. Like many of the speakers brought into the classroom during the fall 2011 semester, he was able to bridge the gap between theory and practice. For example, Jeff explained how the concepts of duration, credit and convexity are used by active portfolio managers. We are thankful he was able to visit campus again - he does an excellent job in the classroom and I know the students benefited from his presence in the classroom," Dr. Krause stated.
