| Equity Research Advisor and Portfolio Manager - 30 Years of Experience | Professional Website Designer, Developer, Graphic Designer and Writer |
| Avidly interested in economics, technology, communications, demographic trends and education. Also tinker with photography, art, psychology, history, how stuff works and trivia. |
| Fourth generation California native, now refugee, happily living in Southwestern Montana | Mom, wife and sister |
| Debra McNeill, CFA |
What else do you need to know?
| Professional
I've worked for a variety of investment firms including a large bank, a very small boutique investment shop, and a mutual fund company. In addition to writing research reports and making investment recommendations, I developed U.S. equity portfolio management strategies employing backtesting systems, risk management and performance analytics (a.k.a., quantitative analysis). Following our move to Montana in 2004, my husband and I founded Tobacco Root Graffics, now Tobacco Root Solutions. We primarily serve small businesses and institutions in Southwestern Montana with website, graphic, and content solutions, supporting their advertising and public relations efforts. Our web services provide development, maintenance and customization for Joomla, Wordpress and any web builder based websites. I write nearly all of the content, provide most of the photos and create all of the graphics (excluding clip art) for our client's websites. Basic SEO is part of every package and we also offer social media support. Personal I was born and raised in Northern California and graduated from the business school at U.C. Berkeley, focusing on finance and management science (process management). Why Montana? Safe neighborhoods, good schools, great communities and awesome skiing. The only drawback in moving to Montana is there aren't many good employment opportunities for the nerdiest woman in an equity investment shop. So I taught myself website development, Photoshop and Illustrator and started a new career (while keeping one foot solidly placed in equity investment research and portfolio management). Social Media Links |
What is a CFA?
"CFA" is the acronym for Chartered Financial Analyst. To earn the CFA designation, the candidate must pass 3 full-day examinations sequentially over 3 years. The exam tests the candidate's analytical skills in economics, financial reporting, equity and fixed income research, portfolio management, quantitative analysis, alternative investments and professional ethics. Candidates must be employed full-time in the financial services industry and 50% of their employment must contribute to the investment decision-making process. The pass rate is generally less than 50% but when the three exams have been passed, the charter holder is highly qualified to provide investment research, portfolio management services as well as other financial services.
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These projects required integration and management of large databases of financial statistics. I also developed customized tools for collecting and analyzing esoteric financial information.