Principals

AJO is wholly owned and operated by its nineteen active principals.

• Seth D. Allen
  

  Seth D. Allen(BA, Virginia), 41, began his career at Cambridge Associates prior to joining our firm in 2005. At Cambridge, he was a resource and performance analyst. A CFA charterholder, Seth is involved with research and portfolio management.

• Theodore R. Aronson
  

  Theodore R. Aronson(MBA, BS, Wharton), 67, founded AJO (formerly Aronson+Johnson+Ortiz; before that Aronson+Partners; and before that Aronson+Fogler) in 1984. While still a graduate student, he joined Drexel Burnham Investment Advisors, where he helped found its Quantitative Equities Group. This group managed the Revere Fund, the first active SEC-registered fund to employ MPT. He is both a Chartered Investment Counselor and a CFA charterholder. He was chairman of the CFA Institute (formerly AIMR) and is currently chairman of its Research Foundation. He also serves as a trustee of Spelman College and chairs its investment committee, and he was a Lecturer in Finance at The Wharton School. Ted is involved with portfolio management, administration, client service, and marketing.

• Matthew D. Austin
  

  Matthew D. Austin(PhD, AM, Harvard; BA, Castleton University), 35, was a quantitative analyst before joining AJO in 2015, most recently at Numeric Investors and before that at State Street Corporation. A CFA charterholder, Matt is involved with research and portfolio management.

• Stefani Cranston
  

  Stefani Cranston(BS, Villanova), 52, was a senior accountant at Deloitte & Touche before joining AJO in 1991. At Deloitte, she audited a number of financial institutions, including our firm. A CFA charterholder and a licensed CPA, Stefani is involved with portfolio management and research (lead on funding and flows) and financial accounting.

• Joseph F. Dietrick
  

  Joseph F. Dietrick(JD, Cornell; BS, Penn State), 50, joined AJO in 2003. He previously served as senior counsel and assistant secretary of The Vanguard Group, where he was responsible for commercial transactions and general corporate matters, including corporate governance. Joe is our chief compliance officer.

• Daniel J. DiSanto
  

  Daniel J. DiSanto(BS, College of New Jersey), 43, was an audit manager at KPMG before joining our firm in 2002. Prior to KPMG, Dan was a senior accountant at Arthur Andersen, where he audited financial institutions, including AJO. A CFA charterholder and a licensed CPA, Dan is involved with financial and portfolio accounting and performance measurement.

• Douglas D. Dixon
  

  Douglas D. Dixon(BS, Wharton), 47, a CFA charterholder, spent three years at the University of Pennsylvania as a financial analyst before joining our back office in 1997. Three years later, he made the jump to trading. Doug is involved with trading and transaction-cost research.

• Paul Dodge
  

  Paul Dodge(BBA, William & Mary), 53, was a senior research analyst with Cambridge Associates before joining our firm in 1994. While at Cambridge, Paul designed performance measurement systems and created stock-analysis programs. A CFA charterholder, he is involved with portfolio accounting and performance measurement.

• Michael R. Dowd
  

  Michael R. Dowd(MBA, Boston College; BS, William & Mary), 44, joined AJO in 2014 after stints at Putnam and, more recently, at Martingale Asset Management, where he was responsible for research and portfolio management. A CFA charterholder, Michael is involved with research and portfolio management.

• Robert O. Louka
  

  Robert O. Louka(MBA, Wharton; BA, Loyola), 43, joined us in 2006 from CooperNeff, where he worked for eight years in trading, research, and portfolio management, after a stint at Alex Brown. A CFA charterholder, Rob is involved with trading and transaction-cost research.

• Gina Marie N. Moore
  

  Gina Marie N. Moore(BS, BA, Delaware), 49, joined AJO in 1998. She began her career as a licensed CPA at Price Waterhouse and then joined Scott Paper as a pension analyst. She became involved in institutional investment management, first at Brandywine Asset Management and then at Glenmede Trust. She is a CFA charterholder and served on the board of the CFA Society of Philadelphia. Gina is involved with portfolio management, research, client service, and marketing.

• Claire M. Noel
  

  Claire M. Noel(MS, Pennsylvania; BA, Dartmouth), 32, began her career on the quantitative investments team at Turner Investments prior to joining AJO in 2012. At Turner, she worked on domestic, international, and fixed-income projects. A CFA charterholder, Claire is involved with systems development, research, and portfolio management.

• César A. Orosco
  

  César A. Orosco(PhD, MA, Pennsylvania; BA, Universidad de Lima), 46, joined AJO in 2010. Just prior, he was a researcher with State Street Associates, a partnership between State Street Global Markets and academia. Prior to that, he was an analyst and fund manager at Credicorp and a consultant at The World Bank. A CFA charterholder, César is involved with research and portfolio management.

• Siddharth Ramesh
  

  Siddharth Ramesh(MS, Columbia; BT, Indian Institute of Technology Madras), 30, was a quantitative strategist with Clarity Solutions Group before he joined our firm in 2014. A CFA charterholder, Siddharth is involved with systems development, research, and portfolio management in the Boston office.

• Jocelin A. Reed
  

  Jocelin A. Reed(MBA, Pittsburgh; BS, Penn State), 49, who came to AJO in 2014, spent most of her investment career at Mellon Capital and Mellon Equity. Most recently, she was a member of Independence Asset Advisors. A CFA charterholder, Jocelin is involved with portfolio management and research.

• Gregory J. Rogers
  

  Gregory J. Rogers(BS, Wharton; BS, Pennsylvania), 50, began his career at First Boston prior to joining AJO in 1993. Greg spearheaded our trading operation for well over a decade. He then moved to portfolio management and research. His initial focus was on the domestic front, followed by work on the launch of our emerging markets strategies and global mandates. A CFA charterholder, Greg leads our Boston office and is involved with portfolio management, research, client service, and marketing.

• Colleen A. Smith
  

  Colleen A. Smith(MBA, Villanova; BA, Bucknell), 46, was an analyst at Chartwell Investment Partners before joining AJO in 2005. She began her career at Simon & Schuster as a financial analyst and later worked at Villanova University as a graduate research assistant. A CFA charterholder, Colleen is involved with research and portfolio management.

• Franz Valencia
  

  Franz Valencia(MS, Boston College; BS, Northeastern), 43, joined AJO in 2012 from Agriya Investors. He was a quantitative analyst at Columbia Management, specializing in emerging markets and EAFE regions. Prior to that, he was a portfolio manager of domestic and international mandates at Putnam Investments. Franz is involved with research and portfolio management in the Boston office.

• Christopher J. W. Whitehead
  

  Christopher J. W. Whitehead(BA, Colby College), 44, was a senior research associate at Cambridge Associates before joining our back office in 2000, just as the internet bubble burst (establishing his distinguished record as a market timer). Over the ensuing years, he moved to research, and then to portfolio management. A CFA charterholder, Chris is involved with portfolio management and research.