Vantage is an independent boutique investment advisory firm based in Virginia. The firm traces its roots back to the 1970s when Professor Robert F. Vandell, a leading academic at Harvard Business School came to the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and later founded the firm. Together with a small group of PhDs and investment professionals they focused on adapting the precepts of modern portfolio theory to the practice of investment management. In 1986, Vantage Financial Management registered with the SEC as a registered investment advisor and in 1988 the firm was renamed Vantage Consulting Group, Inc.
Vantage is built around the successful marriage of theory and practice. We are informed by our substantial academic roots, but we are guided by our experience. It is our deep and varied experience that has led us to our risk–managed approach to building customized investment solutions. Over nearly four decades, we have achieved our clients’ objectives not simply through good markets but also through bubbles, crashes, and crises by adhering to our discipline and maintaining the courage to do what, by our estimation, is right for our clients no matter the market.
Mark has devoted his entire professional career to providing investment services to the business community. In the mid-seventies, he joined the predecessor to Vantage Consulting Group as a consultant and was asked to serve as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1986, a capacity in which he continues to serve. Mark also serves as the Chief Compliance Officer.
Mark began his career at Virginia National Bank where he rose to Trust Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. Mark served the State of Virginia Retirement Plan for over a decade as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee and was its Chairman from 1990 through 1994. He also was a Trustee of the Virginia Retirement System, serving for a decade through 1994. From 1990 through 1994, he served the Alaska State Retirement System and Chaired the Investment Operations Advisory Committee as part of his tenure. He previously was a member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Advisory Committee on Managed Futures. He was an Independent Director on the Legg Mason Partners Fund Board for nearly thirty years through 2019. Mark’s most recent board affiliation is with Cibus Global (NASDAQ: CBUS), a biotechnology firm focused on non-transgenic agricultural crop breeding. Mark currently serves on the board of managers of the New Ventures suite of funds and the managing member board of Vantage Multi-Strategy Fund, LP.
Mark taught investments at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and served for nearly two decades on the adjunct faculty at the Mason School of Business at the College of William & Mary, where he also received his MBA.
Eloise is an investment professional with over 40 years of experience. She is the relationship manager for many of the firm’s pension and non-profit clients, supporting all of the investment and reporting functions for these clients. Eloise has been associated with Vantage since 1988 and before becoming President, worked in portfolio management, account management, and client service as a Principal of Delta Financial, Inc. From 1980-1983, she worked as a securities analyst, portfolio manager, and was the Assistant Investment Officer for Virginia National Bank.
She currently serves as a Trustee of Mary Baldwin University where she is the Co-Vice Chairman and the Endowment liaison. Eloise also is a Director of the T. B. Butler Foundation and the Watson W. Wise Foundation, both private Texas foundations. Eloise graduated cum laude from Mary Baldwin University with a BA in Economics in 1977 and received an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in 1980. She earned her Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1984 and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Jonathan is an investment professional with more than 25 years’ experience at Vantage Consulting Group, where he has worked since graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics. He serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Vantage. In this role he directs investment strategy, asset allocation, manager selection and portfolio construction; he regularly meets with and advises clients on the full spectrum of Vantage’s investment services.
Jonathan previously was a portfolio manager for the Lindner family of mutual funds from 1999-2001, serving as co-manager for the Small Cap and Asset Allocation funds. He currently serves on the board of managers of the New Ventures Funds, a series of venture capital fund investing in biotechnology related entities. Jonathan is a director of Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS) a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on oncology, Solör Bioenergi Holdings AB, a Nordic based bioenergy company, Rose Pharma LLC, a clinical stage specialty pain company and Verigraft AB, a development stage biotechnology company in regenerative medicine. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1999 and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Jerry was a founding member of the Vantage Consulting Group where he now serves as a Senior Consultant and Economist. He is the author of the Vantage Quarterly Market Summary and Outlook and leads a quarterly planning session on the firm’s top-down approach to client fund positions.
Jerry L. Stevens retired in 2020 as a Professor of Finance at the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business. He remains active as an educational consultant and speaker for the Certified Risk Management (CRM) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) professional certification seminars. At the University, he is an active member of the advisory board for the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) at the Robins School and recently created a multidisciplinary investment group of Richmond students who trade exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Jerry received his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois. During his academic career, Jerry held a number of endowed chairs, won numerous teaching and service awards, and served as an editor or associate editor for several journals. He has over 50 publications in refereed research journals including the American Economic Review; Journal of Portfolio Management; Financial Management; Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance; Financial Services Review; Journal of Financial Education, Journal of Investment Consulting; and the Journal of Financial Planning.
Jim has been a consultant with the firm since its inception. He focuses on valuation models and portfolio risk analysis. Jim is a Professor, Emeritus at The College of William and Mary and is a former Director of the MBA Program at the Mason School of Business. Jim provided oversight to the MBA student managed equity portfolio “The Batten Fund”. He was named the Frank Batten Professor for Distinguished MBA Teaching (2004) and Chancellor Professor of Business (2007). Jim was an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and previously served as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Virginia Retirement System. Jim received a BA in Mathematics in from the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar. He also received an MBA and a DBA from the University of Virginia.
Geoff joined Vantage Consulting Group in 2019. Prior to Vantage, he worked for Norfolk Southern Corp., where he served in a variety of managerial and marketing roles, engaging with Fortune 500 industrial chemical and petroleum-related companies. He brings with him broad experience in business management & development, forecasting, contracting and reporting. Geoff earned a BS in Business Management from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin School of Business, and an MBA from William & Mary’s Mason School of Business. Geoff is an active member of the Hampton Roads community. He currently serves on the board of several local nonprofits, is Treasurer and Executive Board Member for the Virginia Beach Maritime Museum and is a graduate of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce LEAD757 initiative.
John joined Vantage in 2015 after working at Route 66 Ventures, a private equity and venture capital firm focused on credit and equity investments in financial service companies. While at Route 66, John helped to launch the firm’s early-stage FinTech venture fund and credit opportunity fund. Prior to Route 66, John spent time at JMP Securities covering internet stocks and Hovde Capital making traditional private equity investments in financial service companies. He began his career in the structured finance division of Standard & Poor’s where he was responsible for advising investment banks and hedge funds on various credit transactions. John holds an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a Masters in Accounting from the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary. He passed the Virginia State CPA Exam in 2006.
Sanjeev joined Vantage in 2005 after completing his MBA at the Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary. Sanjeev focuses on portfolio construction, optimization and asset-liability modeling along with performing manager analysis and investment strategy research. Prior to attending graduate school, he worked for Tech Mahindra as an Information Technology Consultant from 1999 to 2003, where he consulted various clients in Asia, Australia and Europe. Sanjeev completed his undergraduate degree in Engineering & Technology at The National Institute of Technology in Warangal, India. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2010 and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Jim is an investment professional with over 25 years of experience. He has held a variety of positions at Vantage including trader, operations manager, and systems developer, specializing in quantitative modeling. In addition to performing manager review and quantitative analysis, Jim leads the firm’s portfolio accounting, trading, reconciliation and reporting team. From 1981 to 1987, he was employed by Tidewater Consultants Inc., a management and systems consulting firm. Jim received his BA from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1983 and an MBA from the College of William and Mary in 1989.
Penny brings more than twenty years of experience in the financial services industry to her role as Director of Client Services. She serves as relationship manager for domestic and foreign pension, foundation and institutional relationships. As a central point of contact for assigned clients, she assists in the oversight of clients’ investment programs and attends to their service-related and day-to-day operational needs. Throughout her career, Penny has served in various client service, compliance and portfolio operations roles. Before joining Vantage in 2005, she previously served in the roles of Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and the Director of Operations at two private investment advisory firms. She has also served as a private consultant to a law firm in Washington, DC that specializes in Securities Regulation and Administrative Law. She successfully completed the NASD Series 63 and 65 exams as well as a two-year basic training program with National Regulatory Services.
Matt is a proven information technology leader with 25 years of experience in solution architecture, software development, database administration, and infrastructure management. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1997 with a BS in Commerce, concentrating in Management and Management Information Systems. Following graduation, Matt worked as a consultant for CACI, MicroLink LLC, and Hewlett-Packard, delivering high-value solutions for the Department of Defense, NASA, state and local government, and private industry. More recently, Matt served as the Senior Solution Architect for RynohLive, a Software as a Service provider, offering anti-fraud services to the title and settlement industry.
Matt oversees the firm’s information technology infrastructure including the development of software and systems that support the firm’s day to day operations, its proprietary information management systems and the research, development, testing and implementation of financial models and software solutions.
Dave joined Vantage in 2011, bringing over 35 years of experience in accounting, operations and compliance. Dave oversees the daily operations of the firm’s private investment funds, focused principally on portfolio accounting and financial reporting. Prior to Vantage, he worked at Sorrentino Asset Management, Inc., from 1995 until 2011, serving as Controller and Chief Compliance Officer. From 1993 to 1995, he worked for Gabriel, Inc., a diversified manufacturing and investment firm, serving as Vice President where he focused on special projects at the direction of the Chairman. Prior to Gabriel, he worked for Camel Group/Levin Capital Management from 1990 to 1993 as Controller, where he was responsible for Tax Accounting and Compliance. Dave received a BS from Illinois State University in 1981 and is licensed with the State of Virginia as a Certified Public Accountant.
Courtney joined Vantage in 2007 and has worked in a variety of areas of the firm focusing on compliance for over 15 years. As Compliance Officer, she coordinates outside compliance resources and works with the CCO to oversee the implementation of Vantage’s compliance program. In 2017 she was awarded the Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional certification, IACCP, by the National Regulatory Services Center for Compliance Professionals Investment Adviser Compliance Program and is member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals.
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