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Our People

Kevin K. Adams
CFA, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager with fourteen years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Adams worked as a Registered Representative for the National Business Association. Mr. Adams currently manages portfolios for a number of the firm’s clients and is also co-author of AAM’s Monthly Economic Outlook. Mr. Adams is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. Mr. Adams earned a B.S. in Corporate Communications from Northern Illinois University.

Mohammed Z. Ahmed
Assistant Vice President, Structured Products Analyst with three years of investment experience.
Prior to AAM, Mr. Ahmed worked for Morningstar - Separate Accounts Team as a Data Analyst and previous to that for Merrill Lynch – Global Private Client Group as a Finance Intern. Mr. Ahmed has a B.S. in Finance and Management from DePaul University and is currently a Level I candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program. .

Michael J. Ashley
Vice President, Corporate Bonds with twelve years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Ashley worked at Northern Trust Global Investments with responsibility for following investment grade industrials including credits in the basics, energy, consumer products, media, and retail sectors. Mr. Ashley earned a B.A. from the University of Iowa in Management Information Systems and a M.B.A. from DePaul University in Finance.

Gregory A. Bell
CFA, CPA, Director of Municipal Products with eighteen years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Bell worked at the Northern Trust Company in several positions with increasing responsibility. Most recently, he was Vice President and Senior Municipal Bond Portfolio Manager with responsibilities including management of a $57 million Florida Tax Exempt Intermediate Bond Mutual Fund and management of $1 billion in high net worth client bond portfolios. Prior to that, Mr. Bell was a Municipal Bond Trader and a Mutual Fund Compliance Analyst. Mr. Bell earned a B.A. in Accounting from Chicago State University and a M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago.

Robert J. Bennett
CFA, Vice President, Corporate Bond Trader with eighteen years of investment experience.
Mr. Bennett is the firm’s senior corporate bond trader, responsible for generating and executing trade ideas to take advantage of yield and total return opportunities as well as co-developing corporate bond strategy. Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Bennett worked at Old Republic Asset Management Corporation as Vice President of Investments and Senior Portfolio Manager. Prior to working for Old Republic, Mr. Bennett was a Portfolio Manager and Corporate Bond Sector Specialist for Northern Trust Global Investments. Mr. Bennett is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. Mr. Bennett earned a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University.

Joseph A. Borgmann
CPA, Vice President, Investment Accounting, with ten years of investment experience.
Mr. Borgmann is responsible for the Investment Accounting Group which provides accounting and statutory reporting services. Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Borgmann was an Assurance Manager for Ernst & Young. Mr. Borgmann has earned a B.S. in Accounting from Clemson University.

Marco A. Bravo
CFA, Principal, Senior Portfolio Manager with sixteen years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Bravo worked for Templeton Management LTD. as an investor services advisor. Mr. Bravo currently manages portfolios for a number of the firm’s clients and is also co-author of AAM’s Monthly Economic Outlook. Mr. Bravo is a member of the CFA Institute, and the CFA Society of Chicago. Mr. Bravo has been a frequent guest speaker at various industry association meetings and conferences. Mr. Bravo earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto.

Daniel C. Byrnes
CFA, Vice President, Portfolio Manager with six years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Byrnes worked as an accountant at CNA Insurance. Mr. Byrnes’ responsibilities include reporting, monitoring and analysis on a number of insurance portfolios. Mr. Byrnes earned a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Business M.B.A. program at University of Chicago.

Thomas M. Carroll
CFA, CPA, Vice President, Credit Research with twenty-two years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Carroll was a Senior Research Analyst at Allstate Investments, LLC. He was responsible for performing in-depth credit analysis and relative value analysis of investment grade corporate bonds for the financial services industries. Prior to Allstate, Mr. Carroll was a Principal and Head of Mergers and Acquisitions Research for U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Prior to that, Mr. Carroll was at Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Company and held positions of increasing responsibility from Vice President - Industrial Group to Vice President - Group Head of the Utility Group to Group Vice President - Group Head of the Transportation/Infrastructure Group. In addition, Mr. Carroll has instructed graduate level corporate finance courses and CFA preparation courses at DePaul University. Mr. Carroll earned a B.A. in Accounting from Lewis University and a M.B.A. from the DePaul University Graduate School of Business.

Joel B. Cramer
CFA, Vice President, Director of Sales and Marketing with fifteen years investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Cramer was Vice President of Investment Programs at BCS Insurance Group where he directed the marketing of the BCS Investment Programs to BlueCross BlueShield entities. Mr. Cramer also supported the Treasurer at BCS with all of the activities related to BCS’ corporate investment portfolio. Prior to joining BCS Financial in 2000, Mr. Cramer worked at First Tennessee Capital Markets as a Vice President in institutional sales, and began his career as an asset/liability analyst at a regional bank holding company. Mr. Cramer is a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Chicago and the Association for Finance Professionals. Mr. Cramer earned a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University, New York.

Aaron P. Diefenthaler
CFA, Vice President, Portfolio Manager with twelve years of investment and operations experience.
Prior to his current responsibilities, Mr. Diefenthaler was AAM’s ABS/CMBS/Government Trader and monitored the DASH CBO platform. Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Diefenthaler worked for SS&C Technologies, Inc., where he served as a Sales Executive for institutional asset management products and managed investment operations in the Financial Institutions division. Mr. Diefenthaler began his career at Northern Trust Company in Chicago as a Senior Portfolio Analyst. Mr. Diefenthaler earned a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University and a M.B.A. from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

Scott A. Edwards
CFA, CPA, Principal, Director of Structured Products with twenty-one years of investment experience.
Mr. Edwards is responsible for MBS, ABS and CMBS securities as well as the DASH CBO platform. Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Edwards was a Senior Vice President and leader of the ABS/CMBS sector team at Zurich Scudder Investments (ZSI) with responsibility for $8 billion in asset and commercial mortgage backed structured securities. In addition, Mr. Edwards was the Portfolio Manager for six portfolios with combined assets of $6 billion that backed Business Owned Life Insurance liabilities. Prior to joining ZSI in 1996, Mr. Edwards worked in the capital markets divisions of Salomon Brothers, Smith Barney and UBS Securities over a period of 10 years with responsibility for the marketing and sales of various structured asset and mortgage backed securities. Mr. Edwards has been a speaker at a number of Structured Products industry conferences. Mr. Edwards earned a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University and a M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

George Gracanin
CPA, Controller, with nineteen years of investment experience.
Prior to becoming the Controller at AAM, Mr. Gracanin was the Senior Accountant. Prior to working at AAM, Mr. Gracanin worked as a Staff Accountant/Cash Manager for American Invsco Corporation and as a Corporate Accountant for Capital Management Group. Mr. Gracanin earned a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Elizabeth G. Henderson
CFA, Principal, Director of Corporate Credit with eleven years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Ms. Henderson was a Director at Fitch Ratings with responsibility for following public and private telecommunications and media companies. Prior to joining Fitch, Ms. Henderson was a Private Placement Investment Analyst and Public Credit Analyst at Lincoln Investment Management. Ms. Henderson graduated with Honors and Distinction from Indiana University with a B.S. in Finance and earned a M.B.A. in Finance, Analytical Consulting, and Marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Colleen M. Herron
Assistant Vice President, Assistant Portfolio Manager with eight years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Ms. Herron worked as a Senior Portfolio Accounting Analyst for The Northern Trust Company. Ms. Herron’s responsibilities include reporting, monitoring and analysis on a number of insurance portfolios. Ms. Herron earned a B.A. in Economics and Communications from Denison University.

Michael R. Kelch
Assistant Portfolio Manager with four years of experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Kelch worked at LaSalle Bank as a Portfolio Analyst in the credit department. Mr. Kelch’s responsibilities include reporting, monitoring and analysis on a number of insurance portfolios. Mr. Kelch has passed all three levels of the CFA Program and will be eligible for the CFA charter upon completion of the required work experience in October, 2008. Mr. Kelch earned a B.S. in Finance at Missouri State University.

Hugh R. McCaffrey
CFA, Vice President, Corporate Bonds with twenty-one years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. McCaffrey worked as a Vice President and Private Placement Portfolio Manager at Zurich Scudder Investments (ZSI). At ZSI, Mr. McCaffrey analyzed and invested a $2 billion portfolio of private placement and CDO securities. Prior to joining ZSI in 1999, Mr. McCaffrey was with Lincoln Investment Management Company for thirteen years, primarily as a Private Placement Investment Officer and also served as Head of Credit Research for a $17.5 billion corporate bond portfolio. Mr. McCaffrey earned a B.A. from Assumption College and a M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Michael W. McLaughlin
Assistant Portfolio Manager with four years of investment experience.
Prior to becoming an Assistant Portfolio Manager, Mr. McLaughlin was an Investment Accountant with AAM. Mr. McLaughlin earned a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.S. in Accounting from Illinois State University.

Reed J. Nuttall
CFA, CMA, Principal, Chief Investment Officer with eighteen years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Nuttall worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager at Farmers Insurance Group and the successor organization, Zurich Scudder Investments (ZSI). Mr. Nuttall had responsibility for managing $22 billion across numerous portfolios and was a member of the Investment Policy Committee that recommended portfolio structure across all fixed income portfolios and mutual funds. Mr. Nuttall earned a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A from California State University, Northridge.

Brandon C. Olson
Assistant Portfolio Manager with three years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Olson worked as a Client Services Analyst for Quantitative Risk Management. During college, Mr. Olson had internships with the National Association of Security Dealers in Financial Operations, with Scottrade as an Assistant Stockbroker, and with Great-West Life in Asset Liability Management. Mr. Olson earned a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois.

Christopher M. Priebe
Vice President, Structured Products Trader with twelve years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Priebe worked at Mercer Investment Consulting as an analyst for two years. Mr. Priebe serves as AAM’s head MBS trader and is responsible for generating trade ideas and execution. Mr. Priebe earned a B.S. in Finance from Elmhurst College.

Darshini Reddivari
Assistant Portfolio Manager with two year of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Ms. Reddivari was a Securities Pricing Analyst for The Northern Trust Company. Ms. Reddivari earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and is currently a Level 2 candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Program.

Darlene H. Richards
Chief Financial Officer with eighteen years of investment experience.
Ms. Richards joined AAM in 1990 as a Senior Accountant and has held positions of increasing responsibility within the Accounting Department. Ms. Richards earned a B.S. in Accounting from Columbia College of Missouri.

John L. Schaefer
CFA, CPA, Principal, President with twenty-one years of investment experience.
Mr. Schaefer joined AAM after working as Managing Director of the Insurance Asset Management unit of Zurich Scudder Investments (ZSI). Mr. Schaefer was responsible for eight Portfolio Managers in the management of $82 billion of insurance assets at ZSI. Mr. Schaefer is a fixed income portfolio manager and has managed a number of P&C and Life insurance company portfolios. Prior to joining ZSI in 1988, Mr. Schaefer worked as an investment analyst at the Progressive Corporation and was a senior auditor at Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Schaefer earned a B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago.

Timothy J. Senechalle
CFA, Vice President, Portfolio Manager with eight years of investment experience.
Mr. Senechalle is a fixed income portfolio manager for a number of Property & Casualty and Life insurers. Mr. Senechalle also specializes in the analysis, management, and trading of preferred stocks for all of AAM’s clients. Mr. Senechalle is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. Mr. Senechalle earned a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mark W. Shelstad
Principal, Senior Portfolio Manager with twenty-five years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Shelstad was a credit analyst at Marshall & Ilsley Bank starting in 1979, and was an equity portfolio manager at M&I Investment Management Corp. from 1982-1984. Since joining AAM, Mr. Shelstad has been a principal and fixed income portfolio manager guiding the investments in a number of P&C and Life insurance company portfolios. At AAM, Mr. Shelstad has helped devise and implement the funding and crediting rate strategy for several annuity writers. Mr. Shelstad’s focus is in the mortgage-backed securities and subordinated asset-backed area. Mr. Shelstad is a member of the ITC and the NALC. Mr. Shelstad earned a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mark J. Steiger
Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Investment Operations and Technology Manager with twenty-four years of systems and investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Mr. Steiger was an Assistant Vice President and operations manager for the portfolio management and client services team at Zurich Scudder Investments (ZSI). Prior to joining ZSI in 1998, Mr. Steiger was the Manager of Fixed Income Operations and Systems at Farmers Insurance Group in Los Angeles where he also led the Securities Accounting department. Mr. Steiger earned a B.S. in Accounting from California Lutheran University.

Joyce M. Tay
Vice President, Manager - Structured Products Research with twelve years of investment experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Ms. Tay worked as an Assistant Vice President of Structured Assets research at Zurich Scudder Investments (ZSI) with primary responsibility for the analysis and monitoring of $4 billion of senior and subordinated CMBS securities in both the public and private markets. Prior to joining ZSI in 1999, Ms. Tay was a CMBS Research Analyst and subsequently a RMBS Rating Analyst with the Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Company where she was Co-Supervisor of the RMBS surveillance group. Ms. Tay’s responsibilities at Duff & Phelps included communication with investment bankers, issuers, legal counsel and investors to discuss the impact of various structural issues on proposed transactions. She joined Duff & Phelps in November, 1995 from the Balcor Company. Ms. Tay is responsible for Structured Products research. Ms. Tay earned a B.B.A. from Loyola University.

Lisa A. Weaver
Assistant Vice President, Marketing Manager with nineteen years of financial services marketing experience.
Prior to joining AAM, Ms. Weaver was a Marketing and Communications Coordinator for PNC Advisors, the asset management division of PNC Financial Services Group. Ms. Weaver is responsible for coordinating and directing the activities of the marketing department. Ms. Weaver earned a B.S. in Economics from Allegheny College and a M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.

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