Alan Hartley never intended to become an investment professional
when he enrolled at UNF. But after becoming a member of the Osprey
Financial Group (OFG) in the Coggin College of Business, he discovered
his true passion.
Money management fascinated Hartley, who originally intended to
enter computer science. After an investment class, however, he was
encouraged to become a member of the Osprey Financial Group. That
decision changed his life and started him down a road which eventually
led to a position at one of the nation's preeminent equity analysis
firms and ultimately to launching his own investment firm.
OFG is a student-managed investment fund. The program enables a
select group of undergraduate finance and MBA students to manage a real
portfolio as a professional investment firm. The group aims to
outperform designated benchmarks with funding provided through the UNF
Foundation.
"First and foremost it (OFG) provided me with the needed foundation
to be successful in investment management." Hartley credits Dr.
Reinhold Lamb, OFG faculty adviser, with encouraging him to join the
group and with helping arrange his internship as a research associate for the hedge fund Ergates Capital.
After working for Ergates, Hartley became an equity analyst at
Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. The quality of his UNF education was
reflected in Hartley being one of only five undergraduates out of 100
stock analysts in Morningstar's equity analyst department. All of the
other analysts had MBAs from some of the nation's top business schools.
Hartley covered stocks from 13 different industries/sectors and wrote
Stock Strategist articles for Morningstar.com and other syndicated
publications. He later became an IPO (Initial Public Offering) analyst
looking into the viability of new pubic companies without much of a
financial track record to evaluate. That evaluation was aided with
Hartley passing all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst
(CFA) program.
Hartley next had an opportunity to become a portfolio manager for an investment firm in Jacksonville. Leading a team of eight people, Hartley was
responsible for analyzing the company's existing business model,
identifying and implementing a more suitable one, opening a new company and redesigning and deploying a new investment strategy for the firm's $50 million portfolio. "It's been an interesting way for me to
get managerial, entrepreneurial and investment management experience."
Hartley next opened his own investment firm, Black Cypress Capital Management. "Black Cypress encompasses everything I've learned since I first joined the UNF family." The endeavor has been time-consuming, but when he
gets free time, he enjoys surfing, traveling, playing golf and spending
time with friends and family. His newest hobbies include camping and
whitewater rafting.
He has also found time to remain active at UNF being an at-large
member of the Coggin College of Business Alumni Chapter. "Because UNF
was a huge part of my success, I want to do anything I can to help the
University."
Looking back on his UNF experience, Hartley attributes much of his
success to one professor and one program. "He (Lamb) is a great teacher
and a great friend. He gave me a chance when I was a very new finance
major. He coached me and told me I could do it. He helped cement the
belief that I could do anything if I just put my mind to it."
