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Internationally-recognized economist and author Robert Stein, as the Managing Partner at Astor, heads up a team of dedicated individuals with strong financial backgrounds and decades of experience in the financial industry.
Robert Stein
Managing Partner
Rob Stein is the Managing Partner of Astor. Mr. Stein began his career in 1983 as a project analyst for the Federal Reserve, under the chairmanship of Paul Volcker. From there, he went on to hold senior trading or portfolio management positions with Bank of America New York, Harris Bank Chicago and Bank of America Chicago. Beginning in 1991, Mr. Stein also served as the Managing Director of Proprietary Trading for Barclay’s Bank PLC New York. Returning to Chicago in 1994, he formed Astor Financial, Inc., (AF) an investment and brokerage firm. Mr. Stein later formed Astor Asset Management, LLC, a division of AF, which became a registered investment advisory firm with the SEC in 2001.
Mr. Stein is the author of three books, including The Bull Inside the Bear: Finding New Investment Opportunities in Today’s Fast-Changing Financial Markets (John Wiley & Sons, 2009), Inside Greenspan’s Briefcase: Investment Strategies for Profiling from Key Reports & Data (McGraw Hill), and Charting a Profitable Investment Course with Active Management (Marketplace Books). In 2003, Mr. Stein was named one of the best unknown managers by Business Week magazine. He is regularly featured in print and broadcast media such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Investor’s Business Daily, ABC, FOX News, Bloomberg, and CNBC. Mr. Stein graduated from the University of Michigan and holds the series 3, 7, 65 licenses.
Scott Martin
Managing Director, Asset Management
Scott Martin has been Managing Director of Investments since 2001 and is integral to the management and investment decisions of Astor’s fee-based investment portfolios. Mr. Martin also handles the supervision of new advisory relationships for the company. A recognized graduate from Denison University, Mr. Martin completed a double major in Economics and French. Mr. Martin began his career in the financial industry with TD Waterhouse Investment Services Corporation, concentrating on portfolio services for high net worth clients at the firm. A frequent speaker and lecturer, Mr. Martin has been featured in print and broadcast media such as The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Bloomberg, and CNBC. He is currently a contributor to Fox Business Network and is a former columnist with TheStreet.com. He currently holds the series 3, 7, 63, 65, as well as life and health insurance licenses.
Bryan Novak
Managing Director, Trading
Bryan Novak has been Managing Director of Trading since 2002. He is responsible for assisting in all money management decisions made by Astor and oversees the trading operations for Astor Partners, LLC. Mr. Novak has been involved in the research and development of the trading and investment strategies at the firm. Prior to Astor, Mr. Novak was a trader for Second City Trading, LLC, an equity option market-making firm, at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He was involved in the firm’s implementation of their screen-based trading platform. Mr. Novak has experience trading in securities markets from equities, equity derivatives, futures and commodity markets, as well as pre-public equity investment structure. Mr. Novak graduated from The Ohio State University with a BS in Financial Management, a minor in Natural Resources, and currently holds the series 3 and 65 licenses. Mr. Novak is a Level II CFA candidate.
Althea Trevor
Portfolio Analyst
Althea Trevor joined Astor Asset Management in 2008 as Financial Analyst. Ms. Trevor manages research and statistical analysis of Astor’s economic models. She is also responsible for business development initiatives for the firm. Ms. Trevor graduated from the University of Chicago with a BS in Economics. She currently serves on the board of the Hoja Project, an international charity that seeks to promote secondary education and HIV/AIDS awareness in rural Tanzania. Ms. Trevor holds the series 65 license and is a Level I CFA candidate.
Scott Thomas
Director of Operations
Scott Thomas assists in the model implementation, operation and supervision of Astor’s separate account programs. Mr. Thomas is also responsible for the back office support of financial advisory relationships within Astor’s client network. Mr. Thomas began his career in the financial industry with Equity Consultants, LLC in 2005. Prior to joining Astor, he held managerial positions for Bank of America’s retail lending division. He is a graduate of Purdue University and currently holds the series 65 license.
Mary Kovach
Chief Financial Officer
Mary Kovach overseas the financial and compliance operations of Astor. Ms. Kovach has ten years of experience in the financial market, most recently with Apple Growth Partners, a regional business advisory firm. Ms. Kovach began her career at Arthur Andersen in the strategic valuation consulting group and continued her career at KeyBanc in the Capital Markets division as an equity research analyst. As a CFA Charterholder since 2004, Ms. Kovach is on the board of the CFA Society of Cleveland and teaches Stalla Review prep courses for the CFA Exam. Ms. Kovach holds her Series 7, 63 and 87 licenses and is an Accredited Valuation Analyst and member of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and the American Society of Appraisers.
Terry Geary
Director of Client Accounts
Terry Geary is responsible for communicating the Astor philosophy with financial advisors and updating them on the current outlook of the management team. Mr. Geary is a graduate from the University of Iowa with a BA in Finance and was formerly an advisor at UBS and was a vice president for Churchill Management and First Trust Portfolios. He holds the series 7, 9, 10, 31, 63, and 65 licenses.
Jeff Feldman
Director of Marketing
Jeff Feldman is responsible for the ongoing sales and marketing efforts at Astor. He has been working in the financial services industry for over 10 years and has extensive experience working with advisors and the growth of their practices. Prior to working in the financial services, Mr. Feldman worked in the film and television industry producing TV commercials and independent feature films. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.
Sarah Bancsy
Office Manager
Ms. Bancsy manages the day-to-day operations of the firm, supervising office staff and providing solutions and means to the office. Sarah has extensive expertise in computer and data applications and handles all database administration, daily bookkeeping, and industry registrations. Sarah also assists our managing partner, Rob Stein with the overall management of the company. |