Edward Nicoll

SAM is a value equity adviser that focuses on creating portfolios of long-term investments with an asymmetric risk/reward profile. Portfolios are built from the bottom-up through in-house fundamental research. It typically consists of 15-30 Steinberg Stocks which SAM believes the risk of permanent loss of capital is small while the opportunity to grow capital over a three to five-year investment horizon is significant.

Osprey Partners Investment Management focuses exclusively on value investing. They employ proprietary research to identify opportunities to invest at a significant discount to what they believe is the ultimate worth of a business. They seek to mitigate both market and business risk against permanent loss of capital. The firm offers diversified large-cap value equity, concentrated large-cap value equity, small-cap value equity and intermediate fixed-income investment strategies. Osprey's Large-Cap Value investment philosophy minimizes market risk by focusing on undervalued, large-cap companies with trading liquidity. Their bottom-up stock selection process focuses on companies with market-cap greater than $1.5 billion and price/earnings ratios that are at least 20% below that of the S&P 500. They use the proven low p/e anomaly that exists in the market to combat the effects of market risk. When establishing new positions, Osprey requires enough trading liquidity in a stock so as not to be more than 30% of daily volume, and that it will generally not take more than 3 days to establish a full position of 2-4%. They also focus on business risk. Osprey performs balance sheet and income statement analysis to identify companies with the best value characteristics, including: (1) relatively low debt to capital, (2) dividend yield greater than the market (3) earnings and margin stability (4) growing cash flow from operations (5) significant free cash flow and (6) sustainable earnings and dividend growth. Once the financial analysis is complete, Osprey performs a qualitative assessment of the company's operations, future prospects and senior management. Discussions with management focus on the company's use of free cash flow for dividend growth, capital investment, debt reduction and share repurchase. The company's past and current acquisition strategy, the market position of its products and its global competitive situation are also evaluated. The majority of stocks are sold when their price/earnings ratios reach a market multiple. For cyclical companies and others that rarely sell at market average p/e ratios, price targets are set based on specific company and industry analysis and the stocks are sold when the targets are reached. Appreciated positions that exceed 6% of portfolio value are scaled back. Holdings that experience a 20% price drop relative to the market or a change in fundamentals receive an immediate in-depth review. Osprey's Large-Cap Value Portfolios maintain 35-45 holdings and are well diversified across 15-20 industry groups. Initial investment positions are 4% or less of the portfolio value at cost and industry exposure is limited to 15%. Statistically, portfolios exhibit lower p/e, price/cash flow, and price/book value ratios than the Russell 1000 Value Index, while maintaining an average or higher dividend yield and average or better earnings growth versus the index. The firm's Concentrated Value Equity portfolios maintain 25 holdings and are well diversified across 10-15 industry groups. Initial investment positions are 6% or less of the portfolio value at cost and industry exposure is limited to 25%. Statistically, portfolios exhibit lower p/e, price/cash flow, and price/book value ratios than the Russell 1000 Value index, while maintaining an average or higher dividend yield and average or better earnings growth versus the index. Appreciated positions that exceed 10% of portfolio value are scaled back. Holdings that experience a 20% price drop relative to the market or a change in fundamentals receive an immediate in-depth review. Osprey Small-Cap Value Equity strategy focuses on companies with market-cap between $100 million and the upper end of the Russell 2000 whose price/earnings ratios are at least 20% below that of the Russell 2000. Appreciated positions that exceed 6% of portfolio value are scaled back. Holdings that experience a negative 30% price differential relative to the market or a change in fundamentals receive an immediate in-depth review. They maintain 40-60 holdings diversified across 15-20 industry groups. Initial investment positions are 4% or less of the portfolio value at cost and industry exposure is limited to 15%. Statistically, portfolios generally exhibit lower p/e, price/cash flow, and price/book value ratios than the Russell 2000 Value Index, while maintaining average or better earnings growth versus the index. Osprey manages fixed-income assets using an intermediate term (2-10 year final maturity) non-interest rate anticipatory style to preserve capital and to enhance total returns. They invest in only the most liquid of fixed-income securities, seeking to invest in such securities at a time of relative value. Investment positions are clustered around points on the relevant yield curve where the risk/reward relationship favors the investor. They trade positions as the yield curve and risk/reward relationships change to take advantage of capital gain potential. Their top-down, bottom-up selection process compares market conditions and risk/reward factors between sectors, rating categories and positions on the yield curve.

A Wall Street invesment bank.

Functions as a College/University