Alan Yu, CFA   |   Senior Research Analyst

Alan Yu, CFA joined Zazove Associates in 2012. He is a senior research analyst for the global healthcare sector. He performs fundamental research on the companies in his coverage universe and advises portfolio managers on buy and sell activities. Prior to joining Zazove, Alan spent 5 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as Vice President, Research Analyst for the convertible bond sales and trading desk. He earned his Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester.

Bret Lannert   |   Portfolio Manager

Bret joined the firm in 2021 as a Portfolio Manager supporting the firm’s core balanced convertible strategy as well as the convertible arbitrage strategy.  Bret has over 17 years of experience executing complex investment strategies including interest rate derivative trading.  Bret previously co-founded and served as the Managing Partner of a proprietary trading group specializing in quantitative volatility strategies.  More recently, Bret worked as a product specialist developing advanced analytics for an enterprise software application for Asset Managers.  Bret received a B.A.Sc. in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University and his MBA from the University of Illinois.

*Executive Committee Member

Bryan Price   |   Software Engineer

Bryan Price has been developing software for the past three decades since leaving a teaching position at a technical college. He has developed numerous proprietary applications at Zazove including our trade order management system, our compliance engine, and our trade activity reporting systems. He earned a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Fresno.

Charlton J. Strait   |   Analyst

Charlton joined Zazove Associates in 2022. As an Analyst, he’s responsible for monitoring and trading currency hedges for the firm’s Global strategy, providing support to the portfolio management team, and handling client requests and reporting needs. Charlton graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. Prior to joining Zazove, he interned at TCI Wealth Advisors in 2020 and was a member of The Nevada Student Investment Organization. Charlton is a CFA Level 2 Candidate.

Christopher B. Cook, CFA   |   Portfolio Manager & Director of Credit Research

Chris earned his MBA from Northwestern University with concentrations in finance and accounting and graduated with honors. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. Prior to joining Zazove Associates in 2000, Chris spent 13 years working in the institutional equity department of Credit Suisse First Boston, most recently as West Coast Equity Product Manager.

Daniel Osorio, CFA   |   Trader

Dan Osorio, CFA is a Trader with over 25 years of experience in the convertible bond and equity option markets. Dan joined Zazove Associates in 2000 and was instrumental in trading and risk management for the convertible arbitrage, long only, and alternative credit strategies. He left the firm in 2013 as Principal and Senior Trader and returned to Zazove in 2020 to focus on trading and special situations. Dan also manages delta hedging and provides oversight for the convertible arbitrage strategy, and general trading support and risk management for our outright strategies. Prior to joining Zazove in 2000, he served as an options trader in San Francisco for Timber Hill, a pioneering electronic market maker. Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Oregon and has been a CFA Charterholder since 2003.

Derek Nault, CFA, CAIA   |   Trader

Joined as a Trader starting in January of 2024. Derek joins Zazove Associates after 10+ years at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina as both a COO and trader on the Fixed Income Trading Desk; helping to manage > $30B in balance sheet assets and generating > $100MM in annual revenue. More recently, he has been in Lake Tahoe developing proprietary trading strategies and assisting with trading functions at a $2.5B fixed income manager in Los Angeles.

Elaine Cleary   |   Senior Associate, Client and Trade Operations

Elaine Cleary is a Senior Client and Trade Operations Associate with 24 years of experience in trade settlements. In addition to trade settlements, she is also responsible for client reporting. Elaine received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining Zazove in 1999, Elaine was with Bank of America as an accountant.

Geneka Webb   |   Staff Accountant

Geneka earned her MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management of Devry University in 2011 and her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois. Geneka started her career in the investment industry at Zazove in 2002.

George Matthews, CFA   |   Managing Director of Business Development and Client Service

George is a Managing Director of business development and client service at Zazove Associates.  George has 28 years of investment industry experience, most recently with Allspring Global Investors where he was the Head of Institutional Systematic Product for the Systematic Edge platform, a $28B business. Prior to Allspring Global Investors, George was a Senior Partner at Analytic Investors LLC, a quantitative investment firm based in Los Angeles.  Prior to Analytic, George was a Senior Consultant Relations manager for Wells Fargo Asset Management.  George also served as a fixed income portfolio manager at Banc of America Capital Management and Wilshire Associates.  George began his investment career in 1995.  George earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Chico, and an MBA with an emphasis in finance from the University of Oregon. In addition, he has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Götz Sennhenn   |   Director, Relationship Management

Götz earned his MS in Finance from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2016, where he graduated Beta Gamma Sigma. As Director of Relationship Management, Götz plays an integral role in working with existing clients, as well as developing new relationships for the firm. Götz joined Zazove Associates in January 2011.

Greg Shorin, JD, CFA   |   Portfolio Manager and Director of Trade Operations

Greg has served as Portfolio Manager of our Global Convertible Strategy since 1999. He is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee and works closely with the CEO/CIO to support all of the firm’s convertible strategies. Prior to joining Zazove in 1997, Greg was a Senior Associate with the law firm of Baker & Botts where he specialized in the analysis of pricing practices by foreign corporations. He also served as Senior Counsel for Import Administration, where he advised the Department of Commerce on international trade matters. Greg earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from State University of New York at Binghamton.

*Executive Committee Member

Jeremy King, CPA   |   Director, Finance and Operations

Jeremy King is the firm’s Director of Finance & Operations with over 24 years of investment industry experience. As director, Jeremy manages the firm’s in-house fund administration, oversees separately managed account reporting deliverables and is responsible for portfolio performance measurement while maintaining the firm’s composites. As controller, he is responsible for financial reporting, tax compliance, day-to-day accounting operations and various human resource functions.  Prior to joining the firm, Jeremy was a Senior Accountant at Edelheit & Edelheit, Ltd. where he provided public accounting services to small and mid-sized businesses in a variety of industries. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Illinois CPA Society. Jeremy received his BS in Accounting from North Park University.

*Executive Committee Member

John Idone   |   Head Trader

John Idone is the Head Trader at Zazove Associates with over 39 years of convertible bond investment and trading experience. He is responsible for the execution and monitoring of firmwide investments. He is also responsible for developing and maintaining Zazove’s senior level relationships with the sell side firms that Zazove trades with on a daily basis. Prior to joining Zazove, John has held investment decision and trading positions at both TQA Investors, a hedge fund and on the sell-side at Credit Suisse. John has a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York and a Master of Business Administration from Pace University.

Joseph McCready   |   Research Analyst

Joseph joined Zazove in 2018. At the firm, he is responsible for research coverage of the software and services industries. Before joining the firm, he worked as an equity analyst at Allianz RCM and Wasatch Advisors. Prior to that experience, he worked in investment research and investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago with concentrations in Finance and Accounting as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from Boston College, both with highest honors.

Kevin Duffy   |   Research Analyst

Kevin Duffy joined Zazove Associates in 2023 as a Research Analyst. At the firm, he is responsible for research coverage of the financials, industrials, and energy sectors. Before joining the firm, he was a Principal in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Markets Group, covering credit markets. He advised policymakers on financial stability topics, including emergency credit facilities. He was previously an Associate at Promontory Financial Group and a credit trader at Bridgewater Associates. Kevin earned a Master of Business Administration from the Yale School of Management and received an AB from Harvard College.

Kim Ford   |   Executive Assistant to the CEO

Kim joined Zazove in 2020 as Executive Assistant with over 36 years’ experience.  She is responsible for providing executive support to the firm’s CEO, Gene Pretti.  Prior to joining Zazove, Kim was Executive Assistant at a Bay Area start-up DayTwo.  Before that she was Executive Assistant to the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board at Pandora Media in Oakland, CA as well as Executive Assistant at Madrona Venture Group and Microsoft in Seattle, WA.

Matthew Halko   |   Software Engineer

Matthew Halko is a Software Engineer at Zazove with eight years of experience building real-time financial applications. He is responsible for the development of proprietary tools for security and portfolio analysis, risk management, trade allocation and client reporting. Working closely with Nick Flees, Bryan Price and the portfolio management team, he contributes to the development of Zazove’s proprietary software architecture.

Before joining Zazove, Matthew worked as a proprietary trader in Chicago executing relative-value fixed income trades, conducting quantitative research and deploying automated trading models. He has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Michael Eggert   |   Software Engineer

Michael Eggert is a Software Engineer with over 14 years of experience. Michael started his career as a Fixed Income Trader after graduating in 2009 from Northwestern University. After 10 years in trading, Michael obtained a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Chicago in 2019. Prior to joining Zazove in 2022, Michael was a full-stack Software Developer for Mercury Digital Assets that specialized in trading software for digital assets. Michael is responsible for updating and enhancing Zazove’s proprietary software that is utilized by the investment team, as well as providing support to improve the firm’s automated reporting process.

Nicholas Flees   |   Director, Quantitative Modeling

Nicholas Flees is Zazove’s Director of Quantitative Modeling. He manages the firm’s quantitative analysis initiatives and is the firm’s lead software architect. He is responsible for articulating and managing the firm’s technological strategy. This work includes the design and development of proprietary systems and tools for security analysis, portfolio analysis, risk management, and reporting.

Nick has more than 15 years of experience working in finance and technology. Prior to joining Zazove in 2018, he designed, wrote, and managed proprietary trading, derivative-modeling, and data-analysis applications for market makers in exchange-traded interest-rate options at the Chicago Board of Trade. He was also a member of the Computer Science faculty at the University of Chicago, where he taught master’s-level courses on Python programming and databases. He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Michigan. Nick is a candidate in the CFA program.

*Executive Committee Member

Richard Walman   |   Associate, Client and Trade Operations

Rich received a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with a specialization in International Business and World Trade from the University at Buffalo in 1998. He is responsible for trade settlement as well as assisting the trading desk with trade processing and other day to day operations. He has been with Zazove since 2004.

Ryan Shelby, CAIA   |   Managing Partner

As Managing Partner, Ryan is responsible for management, strategic planning and growth for all areas of Zazove Associates. Ryan has over 20 years of financial services industry experience, most recently with Wells Fargo Asset Management / Analytic Investors where he was Head of Factor Solutions, a business that he launched and ran after Wells Fargo Asset Management acquired Analytic Investors LLC. Before joining Analytic in 2010, Ryan was a Portfolio Manager at Northrop Grumman where he was responsible for managing the firm’s Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution equity investments. Prior to Northrop Grumman, Ryan was responsible for conducting asset allocation and investment manager due diligence for Wilshire Associates’ Funds Management Group. Ryan received a B.A. in Law and Society & Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has earned the right to use the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.

*Executive Committee Member

Sam Ginocchio   |   Chief Compliance Officer

Sam Ginocchio joined the firm in 2023 as Chief Compliance Officer. Sam is responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing all compliance related policies and procedures for the firm, including regulatory filings, risk management, and due diligence. Prior to joining Zazove, Sam was Chief Compliance Officer at Dinsmore Compliance Service where he oversaw day-to-day compliance duties for registered investment advisors. Sam obtained his JD from the University of Cincinnati, College of Law in 2015 and his BA from Colgate University in 2009.

Steven Kleiman, JD   |   Of Counsel

Steve Kleiman is the firm’s Of Counsel. Steve earned his JD from the UCLA School of Law where he graduated with highest honors. He received certification as a CPA in 1983. Prior to joining Zazove Associates in 1994, Steve was a Partner with the international law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery. Before that, Steve practiced law with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Viki M. Valente   |   Marketing and Client Relations Associate

Viki joined Zazove Associates in 2023. As a Marketing and Client Relations Associate, her responsibilities range from providing support to the firm’s marketing and client services to organizing and managing marketing materials. Viki graduated from Montana State University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing.