Industry & Services >> Analyst Interviews >> July 26, 2004

K-12, POSTSECONDARY & INFORMATION SERVICES: RICHARD CLOSE – JEFFRIES & CO

Richard Close is a Managing Director at Jefferies & Company who covers the healthcare information technology services sector. FT/StarMine has recognized Mr. Close as the number-one earnings estimator for the healthcare technology industry in 2007 and 2009, the number-three stock picker for the healthcare technology industry in 2009, and the number-one stock picker for the commercial services and supplies Industry in 2004. He also ranked in the top 10 stock pickers in 2002. Mr. Close is a three-time recipient of The Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" selection; he was named to "The Home-Run Hitters" list in 2001 and the "Top Guns" list in 2005. He has been featured in a broad array of industry periodicals and media outlets, including Bloomberg TV, Investor's Business Daily, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining Jefferies in 2003, Mr. Close was a Senior Research Analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey covering privatization and education services. Previously, he served at Montgomery Asset Management and Montgomery Securities. Mr. Close received a B.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Profile
TWST: Richard, can we start with a quick overview of what you are

covering at this point?

Mr. Close: Currently we cover education names, primarily in the

postsecondary education sector, but