Bernard Groveman, CFA®

Bernard Groveman, CFA®, is a Partner and Portfolio Manager with over 30 years of investment research experience and a strong background in fundamental, Graham-Dodd security analysis, statistics, and pattern recognition.

Since joining First Manhattan in 1985, Bernie has concentrated his research efforts in the Business Services, Consumer Packaged Goods, Health Care, Media, and Technology sectors. He has been managing money since 1991.

Bernie began his career as a Fixed Income Research Analyst at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc. and at First Boston. He holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, where he was involved in pioneering research on behavioral finance. He also holds a BA from Colgate University, where he graduated summa cum laude, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and received the Wall Street Journal Award after studying, conducting investigative research, and working in Japan. Bernie is a CFA® charterholder.

Portfolio construction and management

Bernie is a long-term, value-oriented investor who applies his skills and intellectual curiosity in security analysis, behavioral finance, forensic accounting, and investigative research to gain insight into each potential investment's long-term fundamentals. His background in these areas have contributed to his success, fostering independent—rather than consensus—thinking and, in the process, reducing the risk of investing in overpriced securities and bubbles.

To that end, Bernie places limited value on whether last quarter's earnings met consensus, the short-term economic forecast, or which sectors are likely to be "hot." Instead, he focuses on stress-testing and valuation, and in making long-term investments in good businesses with owner-oriented management and conservative finances that are selling at attractive prices.

As a result of hard work and discipline, the wealth of Bernie's clients has increased over multi-year periods. He believes that an important component of this has been an investment approach that mitigates losses during bear markets.

When evaluating potential investments, Bernie values:

• Strong, underlying fundamentals, as evidenced by a high return on equity (ROE), limited financial leverage, high barriers to entry, enduring competitive advantages, and significant cash generation.
• Good management focused on building shareholder value, logically deploying free cash flow, and employing conservative accounting and responsible compensation.
• An attractive valuation, defined as a minimum of 50% total return in a three-year timespan.
• Mispriced special situations, such as spin-offs and restructurings of strong business franchises that offer compelling risk/ reward potential.
• The prospect of long-term holding periods in order to benefit from the positive impact on pre-tax compounding.