Equity Analysts

Dirk van Dijk, CFA - Director of Research
Dirk has worked as a Sr. Equity analyst with Rate Financials, as Portfolio Manager and Equity Strategist with C.H. Dean & Associates, an Equity Analyst with Bartlett & Co. and as a Research Associate with I/B/E/S.  Dirk received his MBA from Baruch College, City University of New York in 1985 and his B.A. from St. Lawrence University in 1980.
 
Senior Analysts – by Industry Specialization
Consumer Products and Services

Consumer Products and Services- Steven Ralston, CFA. Steve joined Zacks in 2003, after five years with Blackrock Financial as consumer products analyst, three years with General Accident Insurance as equity portfolio manager, twelve years with First National Bank of Maryland as consumer products and capital goods analyst, two years with Fidelity Deposit as analyst, two years with Merrill Lynch as retail broker. B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975.

Consumer Services- Sean P. Smith.  Sean joined Zacks Investment Research in 2006 as a senior analyst covering the consumer services sector as well as special situations. Most recently, Sean was a senior equity research analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, and previously he worked in the securities research department of A.G. Edwards & Sons, covering Real Estate Investment Trusts. Seanis a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia, where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in finance and banking. He holds NASD Series 7, 66, 86, and 87 licenses.

Media and Restaurants- Ann Northrop, CFA. Ann joined Zacks in 2003 after three years with UBS as analyst, three years with Gruntal & Co as analyst, one year with Furman Selz as analyst, and two years with CNN as a production assistant. B.A.  economics University of Southern California.

Retail- Robert Plaza, CFA.  Robert joined Zacks in 2003 as an analyst.  Prior to joining Zacks Robert had two years with Morningstar as an analyst, and three years with Illinois Commerce Commission as an analyst. MS Finance Northern Illinois University, 1996,  B.S. Northern Illinois University 1995.

Intermediate Products

Packaging and Building- Mario Ricchio. Mario joined Zacks as an analyst in 2003 after one year as freelance financial journalist. MBA, DePaul University, 1997.

Chemicals and Autos- Paul Raman, CFA. Paul Joined Zacks in 2003 after five years as buy side analyst with Glenmede Trust, Colonial Management, and Bethlehem Steel Pension Fund, and five years with UBS Warburg as sell side chemical analyst.  MBA, University of Manchester, 1990. 

Energy

Oil - Majors- Sheraz Mian.  CFA Level II Candidate, Series 7. Sheraz joined Zacks in 2003 after two years with Brown and Co. as a trader, one year with Goldman Sachs as research associate, and five years with Pakistan Ministry of Finance as analyst. MBA, Northwestern University, 2002, M.A. University of Sindh, 1995. 

Coal - Neil Malkin. Neil joined Zacks in 2007. Neil worked as an energy futures trader at the Chicago Board of Trade.  Neil graduated from Miami University of Ohio with degrees in finance and applied business statistics and he is currently a CFA candidate.   

Finance

Banks, Insurance, and Specialty Finance- Neena Mishra. , Neena joined Zacks in 2007, after 15 years of with the Reserve Bank of India, the Indian equivalent of the Federal Reserve Board, supervising banks and specialized financial institutions and managing the country’s foreign exchange reserves. She is candidate CFA Level II, Master of Science (Physics) from Lucknow University, Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers. MBA University of Georgia, specialization in finance & investments, 2007.

Banks and Insurance- Eric Rothmann.  Eric joined Zacks in August 2006 Prior to joining Zacks Eric held analyst and senior analyst positions at various firms to include, Howe Barnes Investments, Wells Fargo Van Kasper, Stephens, Inc., and Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation. Eric also held other equity research positions at PaineWebber, Inc., Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., and Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. He also has three years’ experience working in the insurance industry in production and operations. Eric holds a B.S. in accounting and a B.A. in economics (with a minor in German) from York College of Pennsylvania.

Real Estate- Greg Sukenik. Greg joined Zacks in July 2005. Greg has worked in the publicly traded real estate industry for six years. Previously he worked for four years in Asset Management at AMLI Residential (AML) and as a development associate at Forest City Enterprises (FCEA). Greg received an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor’s degree from Emory University in Atlanta.

Technology

Semiconductors- Kenneth C. Nagy,CFA. Ken joined Zacks in 2003 after two years with Westrock Advisors, two years with Zurich Scudder as analyst, three years with Investors Bank and Trust as analyst.  M.S. Northeastern University, 1998, B.A. Assumption College, 1995.

Computer and Office Equipment- Ian Gilson, PhD, MBA, CFA joined Zacks in 2006 as a senior analyst after 20 years as a sell side analyst covering small and micro cap companies. His buy side experience includes 3 years as a money manager with Manning & Napier and 13 years with The Harris Trust and Savings Bank as an analyst and money manager. He has NASD series 7, 63 and 87 licenses.

Software, Internet, IT Services, and BPO- Abdul Saleh. Abdul joined Zacks in 2005. Prior to that Abdul was a sell-side analyst with various Wall Street firms for nearly 20 years. He was initially trained as a Paper & Forest Products analyst in the mid-80s and moved on to cover the Technology Sector in the mid-90s. He covered the Communications Component Sector companies from 1999-2006. He worked as an independent consultant for the regional division of a major middle-east based investment entity. MBA (Finance) -- St. John’s University, NY and Master (Economics) -- University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Bachelor (Economics) -- University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.  Saleh also holds relevant NASD licenses including the Series 7, 63, 86 & 87.

Medical

Drugs and Bio Tech- Jason Napodano, CFA. Jason has been with Zacks since 2003 working as the Senior Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology analyst.  Before joining Zacks, Jason served as Vice President and senior equity analyst covering pharmaceuticals and biotechnology for Eastover Capital Management from 1999 to 2002.  Prior to Eastover, Jason worked as a laboratory research scientist for TechLab, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of diagnostic kits and vaccines for infectious disease, from 1995 to 1998.  Jason holds a B.S. from Virginia Tech in Biochemistry and a MBA from Wake Forest University.

Healthcare- Grant Zeng.  Grant joined Zacks in 2006. Grant has 5 years professional experience in equity research and analysis, which includes one year with TheStreet.com as healthcare equity analyst, three years with China Pacific Insurance Co. as equity/fund analyst, one year with Young & Partners as private healthcare equity analyst. Grant Zeng obtained his MBA with a major in finance in 2000 from McMaster University, Canada. He also holds a Master of Science in biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario, Canada; Bachelor of Pharmacy from Second Military Medical University, China.

Medical Devices- Chris Titus, CFA.  Chris joined Zacks in 2008.  Chris  has five years with Boston Trust & Investment Management as a buy-side equity analyst covering companies in the health care, telecommunications, and financial service sectors.  Three years with GE Capital in risk management modeling country risk, structuring fixed income portfolios, and working with distressed assets, one year with the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority as a financial analyst.  He graduated from Babson College in 1996 with a B.S. finance and investments.

Medical Devices- Tom Park. Tom joined Zacks as an analyst in 2003 after earning his MBA at DePaul University in 2003.

Medical Services- Chris Kallos. CFA Level III candidate. Chris joined Zacks in 2003 after one year with Bridge Investment Research, three years with Assirt Equities Research, ten years with Kymet Ltd, Sydney, one year with Sydney stockbroker Burdett Buckeridge Young Ltd. MBA, Richard Ivy School of Business, Ontario Canada. Bachelor of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, 1980. 

Utilities and Transportation

Telecom- Dave Weissman, CFA. Dave joined Zacks in 2005.  Prior to joining Zacks Dave\'s professional experience includes 10 years in portfolio management, equity research and strategic marketing analysis. This is combined with an educational background which includes an MBA in finance and economics from Boston University and an MS and B.S. degree in electrical engineering with a focus on advanced communications, also from Boston University.

Aerospace & Defense, Alternative Energy, Utilities- Jon Kolb. CFA Level III candidate. Jon joined Zacks in 2003.Jon has six years industry experience including investment banking analyst at Houlihan Smith, institutional sales at Lehman Brothers and analyst at Morgan Stanley. MBA Case Western Reserve University, 1997, MIM Thunderbird, 1997.

Transportation- Ann Heffron, CFA, CPA. Ann joined  Zacks in 2003, she has over 20 years as a securities analyst following transportation , banks and other financial institutions for Zurich Scudder Investments, ABN AMRO Asset Management, First Chicago Investment Management Company, Stein Roe & Farnham and  Duff and Phelps. B.A. economics and accounting, Scripps College, 1975.

Aerospace and Defense- John Simon. John joined Zacks in 2006, John also served in an analytical capacity as a Partner at Crowell, Weedon & Co., a Co-Founder of AMDEC Securities (which subsequently merged with Seidler, Arnett & Spillane to form Seidler AMDEC Securities) and, most recently, as a Sr. Vice President at Trust Company of the West, all located in Southern California.  Before that, John held a variety of management positions, in the U.S. and abroad, with Thompson Products division of TRW, Genesys Corp. (then a subsidiary of LTV), Northrop (Grumman) and Anadite. John received a B.E. degree in management and chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA degree from the University of Southern California.

International

Italy and Spain- Santiago Burgaleta, CFA. Santiago joined Zacks in 2003 after four years with Dexia Asset Management, Luxembourg, two years with Esprote & BS,  Madrid Spain. Masters in Finance, AFI, Madrid, 1999, B.A., European University, Madrid, 1995.

South America- Claudio Freitas, CFA. Claudio joined Zacks in 2003 after five years with Banco Prosper, three years with Banco Fleming Graphus, six years with Lloyds Bank. B.S. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 1990. 

Philippines- Peter Chua, CFA. Peter joined Zacks in 2003 after two years as investment banking analyst with Private Development Corp, Philippines, twelve years with Philippine Manufacturing Company as treasurer, B.A. De La Salle University, Manila, 1987.

India- Prabuddha Chaudhuri, Director of Research, India. Prabuddha joined Zacks in 2006 after one year with SREI Capital Markets, LTD., one year with Visa Industries LTD., eight years with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. M.A. University College of Business, Calcutta University, Kolkatia, India, 1985, B.A. Goenka College of Business, Kolkata, India, 1982.

Europe- Non-Technology- Duong Vuong, CFA. Duong joined Zacks in 2003 after three years with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as analyst, five years with Merrill Lynch Europe as analyst. M.A., Middlesex University, 1992, B.A. Kingston University 1991.

Analyst Assistants – 26 personnel

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