Allen Zwickler is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for high-net-worth individuals, retirement accounts, and charitable organizations. Prior to joining First Manhattan in 1989 as a Research Analyst, he was an Analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services.

Allen serves as Treasurer for The Alliance for Positive Change, a New York-based nonprofit organization, and as Trustee for the Phil Zwickler Charitable and Memorial Foundation Trust. He has taught Fundamentals of Portfolio Management at New York University's School of Professional Studies.

Allen holds an MBA from New York University and a BS in Management from The State University of New York at Binghamton. He lives in New York City with his wife and has three children.

Portfolio construction and management

Allen seeks to deliver on a "two for one" value to clients: forensic accounting insight and expertise, combined with extensive experience analyzing and valuing companies. As a result of his background and approach, he is able to uncover hidden value—finding those "diamonds in the rough"—and continuously generate new investment ideas for his clients' portfolios.

Allen's primary focus is long-term equity investing. He has a significant book of balanced accounts, which includes high-quality corporate and municipal bonds. He seeks to:

• Construct stock portfolios consisting of above-average businesses that are easy-to-understand, perform consistently, and are under-leveraged.
• Invest in companies where management is visible and willing to visit First Manhattan, or where a First Manhattan analyst has visited their company headquarters.
• Readjust portfolios, as appropriate, in response to his clients' current and changing needs and family situations.
• Use fixed income investments primarily when a client has periodic income needs.
• Successfully invest in a variety of spin-offs of large companies with undiscovered value—the success of which he attributes to his patience and long-term perspective.