Is “Unicorn” IPO Beyond Meat’s valuation “Impossible?” Mickey Kim / June 21, 2019 There is no better indicator of sentiment or “animal spirits” than the state of the market for initial public offerings (“IPOs”) and, except for a couple high-profile stumbles (Lyft and Uber), investors are partying like [...]
Happiness is getting get off the ‘positional treadmill’ Mickey Kim / May 17, 2019 You know what’s worse than judging a book by its cover? Judging a book by its cover…AND THEN making financial decisions based on what you guess the book might tell you. And yet, we [...]
Stocks’ recovery from December massacre holds important lessons Mickey Kim / April 19, 2019 The following is an excerpt from Kirr, Marbach & Co.’s first quarter client letter. "Way back” in December, stock prices collapsed as investor anxiety reached a fever pitch over the Federal Reserve raising short-term [...]
Dear Clients: We always preach focusing on the “long-term,” but after the brutal fourth quarter of 2018, we’re very pleased to report a great first quarter of 2019, both on an absolute and relative basis. The S&P 500 had a total return of 13.65%. We feel particularly good about this result given “Value” [...]
Kraft Heinz debacle proves not even Buffett immune to mistakes Mickey Kim / March 22, 2019 While Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has achieved well-deserved mythical stature among investors, even the “Oracle of Omaha” makes huge mistakes. Exhibit A is the recent debacle involving his investment in Kraft [...]
Buffett extols “The American Tailwind” and urges “forget the trees” Mickey Kim / March 8, 2019 Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders (posted on the last Saturday of February) always contain valuable historical perspective and timeless investment advice. The 2018 edition certainly didn’t disappoint. Focus [...]
“Free” money on the table for savers, but you have to pick it up Mickey Kim / February 22, 2019 In my last column I wrote how lack of savings is a financial crisis in our society and argued the recent government shutdown was a wake-up call shouting [...]
Shutdown highlights urgent need for ‘Uncertainty Fund’ Mickey Kim / February 8, 2019 Unlike with a technology start-up, you know you’ll never get rich working for the government, but it’s about as stable and risk-free a paycheck as you can get. As 800,000 federal employees and 1.2 million [...]
Have index funds become “Frankenstein’s monster?” Mickey Kim / January 25, 2019 That’s the issue raised by John C. “Jack” Bogle, who invented the first index mutual fund in 1975. Just weeks before his death on January 16 at 89, he said now that index funds had become [...]
Take this non-forecast for 2019 to the bank Mickey Kim / January 11, 2019 The following is an excerpt from Kirr, Marbach & Co.’s fourth quarter client letter. Investors endured a brutal fourth quarter of 2018, with the S&P 500 losing 13.5% (at one point a whisker shy [...]
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Associate Director of Client Service |
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Current Board Member and Vice President of Sans Souci. Past president of Sans Souci and Columbus Young Professionals. Finance Mentor for Turning Point’s Dance Marathon. Leadership Bartholomew County – 2014 and Coalition for Collaborative Learning – 2015. Zach was previously a Credit Analyst and Commercial Lender for MainSource Bank and, most recently, Financial Advisor for Raymond James. Zach joined KM in 2018. |
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Associate Director of Client Service |
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Current member of Heritage Fund Bartholomew County Grants Committee and First Presbyterian Preschool Policy Board. Before joining KM in 2018, Maggie was a financial analyst at Cummins, Inc. |
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Roger Lee, CFA, CPA
Senior Research Analyst |
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Roger joined KM as a Senior Research Analyst in 2016. Prior to joining KM, he sharpened his research skills while on the investment teams of Pacific View Asset Management, the Artisan Partners Global Equity Fund, and Tradewinds Global Investors, a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments. He began his career in assurance services at Ernst & Young. Roger has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York since 2010. |
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Collin Foster, CFA
Research Analyst and Fixed Income Portfolio Manager |
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Collin joined KM as an Equity Analyst in 2015. Prior to joining KM, he worked as a credit analyst and credit manager at MainSource Bank. |
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Mickey Kim, CFA
Managing Partner, Chief Operating/Compliance Officer |
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Mickey was Senior Research Analyst at Driehaus Capital Management, a Chicago investment management firm, from 1982 to 1985. Mickey joined KM in 1986 and has been the firm’s Chief Operating Officer since 1996 and Chief Compliance Officer since 2004. |
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Mark D. Foster, CFA
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Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager |
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Mark was formerly associated with American Fletcher National Bank (now JP Morgan Chase, Indiana, NA) as a research analyst from 1980 to 1982 and with Merchants National Bank as a portfolio manager/research analyst from 1982 to 1984. From 1984 to 1987 he was associated with Merchants Investment Counseling Inc. as Director of Equity Strategy, directly responsible for managing approximately $200 million of equity assets. Mark joined KM in 1987 and has been the firm’s Chief Investment Officer since 1997. |
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Matt Kirr
Partner, Director of Client Service |
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Current Board Member of Heritage Fund Bartholomew County and Foundation for Youth. Past president of Foundation for Youth, the Day Nursery Foundation Board, and past vice-chairman of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Indiana. Matt was previously a Vice President and Private Banker for Bank One, N.A. and, most recently, McDonald Financial Group. Matt joined KM in 2005. |
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Darrell H. “Kip” Wright, CFA
Partner, Portfolio Manager, Senior Research Analyst |
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Kip was a Trust Investment Manager for various banks in Iowa from 1982 through 1995, most recently with Brenton Bank, N.A., with responsibilities of overall strategy and equity selection. Kip joined KM in 1995 and is a portfolio manager and senior research analyst. |
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Colin King, CFA
Senior Research Analyst |
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Colin joined KM as an Equity Analyst in 2012. Prior to joining KM, he worked in assurance services with Ernst & Young and in business valuation with Blue & Co., both CPA firms. Colin has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Indiana since 2012. |
