Stephen S. Smith

Stephen S. Smith founded Smith Group Asset Management, a Dallas-based investment management organization, in 1995, and serves as the company’s CEO and Chairman of the investment committee. He began his career in the late 1960s as an engineer with NASA in the lunar landing program. Mr. Smith joined Wachovia Bank as a computer systems analyst in the mid-1970s and transitioned to the bank’s investment management division in order to help design and implement a portfolio management system. He left Wachovia and joined what is now known as Bank of America in 1983. Mr. Smith held a number of senior investment positions at Bank of America until he departed in 1995 to found Smith Group. Mr. Smith has an engineering degree and an MBA, both from the University of Alabama, and he was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst — CFA — designation in 1981. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Dallas-Ft. Worth. Mr. Smith is an active volunteer in his community and serves on the board of directors for a number of charitable organizations.