The 20 Rising Stars of Mutual Funds 2008 - (Page 15) STEPHEN DODSON Chief Operating Officer Parnassus Investments, San Francisco Age: 30 Education: University of California at Berkeley (B.S. in Business Administration) Mentor: Jerry Dodson, Founder and President, Parnassus Investments Dodson became chief operating officer at Parnassus, which manages $1.3 billion in assets, in 2002. He currently 6. Dodson chose the profession because of his father, Jerry, who he also credits as being his best boss. “My father founded Parnassus in the basement of a house,” he said. “You can argue the profession chose me.” In 10 years, he sees himself taking a broader leadership role at Parnassus, such as becoming the chief investment officer, and growing the firm. Dodson said, in the future, he sees product evolution and ‘rationalization’ instead of proliferation. For example, he noted that loads are becoming a smaller part of the business and there are more funds without 12b-1 fees, which have been increasingly scrutinized by firms and investors. Advisors and investors are getting smarter so that will fuel the shift in thinking, he added. Studies. He also is a member of Full Circle Fund, a San Francisco Bay Area philanthropy group that works with schools and education groups on improving public education. In 2006, he was selected as a delegate by the office of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the quadrennial National Summit on Retirement Savings. 7. ANDREW FELTUS Portfolio Manager Pioneer Investments, Boston Age: 38 Education: Tufts University (B.A. in Quantitative Economics and Philosophy) Mentors: Kenneth Taubes, Head of Fixed Income, Pioneer Investments Feltus joined Pioneer Investments in 1994 as a fixed-income analyst and became portfolio manager in 2001. He has managed the Pioneer Global High Yield Fund since then, the Pioneer High Income Trust since March 2005 and the Pioneer High Yield Fund since April 2007. He also is a member of the team that manages the Pioneer Strategic Income Fund and manages separately managed institutional accounts. Before joining Pioneer, he was an assistant bond trader at MFS Investment Management. 6. DODSON STEPHEN oversees business operations, primarily marketing, and has worked in various areas of the firm, including investment research, shareholder services, technology and compliance. Prior to Parnassus, he was an associate at the venture capital group of Advent International, a private equity firm that he joined in 2001. There, he covered the software and communication sectors, identifying early-stage companies for venture investment. Prior to Advent, he was an analyst at Morgan Stanley from July 1999 to August 2001, covering communication service providers. What is most rewarding about the mutual fund business is that it is “a great way to enhance the financial health of the average, everyday American,” Dodson said, adding that helping investors in an honest way is important. He points to Google, which was founded in 1998 and went public in 2004, as a company he admires for being able to accomplish a great deal in a short time and in an ethical way. Dodson serves on the National Advisory Council of the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Feltus said his biggest challenge was building Pioneer’s Global High Yield Fund from the bottom up. He described the fund as a foundation for the firm’s high yield business, adding that about $9 billion of the firm’s $300 billion in assets under management is dedicated to high yield. With that fund, Pioneer went from being a Boston firm to a global investment company, he noted. Running the funds on a day-to-day basis and aiming towards consistent performance is an ongoing challenge, JANUARY 2008 MUTUAL FUND RISING STARS 15
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