General Investing >> Money Manager Interviews >> August 10, 2009

Investing In Small Cap Value Stocks – Richard A. Giesen Jr. – Elessan Investment Management, Llc

Richard A. Giesen Jr., as Chief Investment Officer at Elessar Investment Management, oversees all aspects of the firm's investment process and manages its research efforts. He began his career as a Portfolio Manager and Equity Analyst at Lazard Freres Asset Management in 1986. In the past 16 years, Mr. Giesen was hired by three financial service firms in the Midwest to assist in the management or become the Lead Manager of the small-cap value product. His market-tested experience and expertise in the development of a consistent, repeatable and quantifiable stock-selection process enabled these firms to address and overcome issues of lackluster performance and/or ineffective stock-selection methodologies. After Mr. Giesen joined the team, each of these products subsequently performed strongly in terms of investment performance relative to their benchmark and peer groups, and in terms of asset growth and retention goals. At each firm, he effectively marketed his investment products to internal and external constituents. Mr. Giesen holds a B.A. in biology from Grinnell College and an MBA in finance and accounting from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Profile
TWST: Would you start with an overview of Elessar Investment Management and its

investment philosophy?

Mr. Giesen: Three of us left National City Bank in 2005 to launch the firm and

our