Quick Takes: 529 College Savings Plans Welcome to our first edition of Quick Takes, where Kirr, Marbach’s Associate Directors of Client Service Zach Greiner, CFP® and Maggie Kamman, CFP® simplify some hard-to-understand topics. We hope with these short, easy-to-digest podcasts increase financial literacy and help you make smart decisions with your money. [...]
Debt ceiling brinksmanship the ‘Sword of Damocles’ for investors Mickey Kim and Roger Lee / May 19, 2023 In an ancient moral parable, the Roman philosopher Cicero told the tale of Dionysius II, a tyrannical king, and his court jester Damocles who commented on the blissful, carefree [...]
Behavioral finance biases can destroy NFL Draft, investor returns Mickey Kim and Roger Lee / April 28, 2023 The NFL Draft and securities markets both provide researchers with huge amounts of data for analyzing “judgement under uncertainty” and “decision under risk.” Research leads to understanding how NFL [...]
Bank Failure Implications and Macroeconomic Trends - Podcast Associate Director of Client Service Zach Greiner and Chief Investment Officer Mark Foster, CFA look at a macro view of the economy coming out of the first quarter of 2023 and dissect some of the negative issues the economy is facing: high inflation, flat [...]
Dear Clients: It was a topsy-turvy first quarter of 2023. Following a dismal 2022, stocks sprinted out of the starting gate in January, as hope sprung eternal we had seen “peak inflation” and the end of rate hikes (and perhaps even rate cuts) by the Federal Reserve (“Fed”) was on the horizon. [...]
SVB’s collapse illustrates fragility of banking’s “confidence game” Mickey Kim and Roger Lee / March 31, 2023 A bank takes money from depositors, who are paid interest for delaying spending. The bank then lends these funds to borrowers, who pay interest for accelerating spending. The bank profits on the [...]
Microsoft’s ‘Sydney’ chatbot personifies Musk’s warning; “AI is far more dangerous than nukes” Mickey Kim and Roger Lee / March 3, 2023 The concept of “artificial intelligence” or “AI” was born in 1950 when English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turning introduced the “Turing Test” to determine [...]
Year after ‘Crypto Bowl,’ dominoes fall as former titans bite the dust Mickey Kim and Roger Lee / February 3, 2023 “How do you think I’m going to get along without you when you’re gone? You took me for everything that I had and kicked me out [...]
Inflation, De-globalization and Leaving 2022 Behind - Podcast Associate Director of Client Service Zach Greiner, CFP is joined by Director of Research Roger Lee, CFA, CPA after an eventful final quarter of 2022 filled with mid-term elections, spending bills, inflation reports, rate hikes and more. Roger and Zach break down how Fed [...]
COVID put “Globalization” in ICU and Putin pulled the plug; now what? Mickey Kim and Roger Lee / January 13, 2023 The following is an excerpt from Kirr, Marbach & Co.’s fourth-quarter client letter, available here. The seeds of the second great age of globalization were sown more [...]
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Associate Director of Client Service |
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Current Board Member and Vice President of Sans Souci. Past president of Sans Souci and Columbus Young Professionals. Finance Mentor for Turning Point’s Dance Marathon. Leadership Bartholomew County – 2014 and Coalition for Collaborative Learning – 2015. Zach was previously a Credit Analyst and Commercial Lender for MainSource Bank and, most recently, Financial Advisor for Raymond James. Zach joined KM in 2018. |
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Associate Director of Client Service |
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Current member of Heritage Fund Bartholomew County Grants Committee and First Presbyterian Preschool Policy Board. Before joining KM in 2018, Maggie was a financial analyst at Cummins, Inc. |
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Roger Lee, CFA, CPA
Senior Research Analyst |
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Roger joined KM as a Senior Research Analyst in 2016. Prior to joining KM, he sharpened his research skills while on the investment teams of Pacific View Asset Management, the Artisan Partners Global Equity Fund, and Tradewinds Global Investors, a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments. He began his career in assurance services at Ernst & Young. Roger has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York since 2010. |
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Collin Foster, CFA
Research Analyst and Fixed Income Portfolio Manager |
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Collin joined KM as an Equity Analyst in 2015. Prior to joining KM, he worked as a credit analyst and credit manager at MainSource Bank. |
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Mickey Kim, CFA
Managing Partner, Chief Operating/Compliance Officer |
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Mickey was Senior Research Analyst at Driehaus Capital Management, a Chicago investment management firm, from 1982 to 1985. Mickey joined KM in 1986 and has been the firm’s Chief Operating Officer since 1996 and Chief Compliance Officer since 2004. |
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Mark D. Foster, CFA
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Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager |
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Mark was formerly associated with American Fletcher National Bank (now JP Morgan Chase, Indiana, NA) as a research analyst from 1980 to 1982 and with Merchants National Bank as a portfolio manager/research analyst from 1982 to 1984. From 1984 to 1987 he was associated with Merchants Investment Counseling Inc. as Director of Equity Strategy, directly responsible for managing approximately $200 million of equity assets. Mark joined KM in 1987 and has been the firm’s Chief Investment Officer since 1997. |
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Matt Kirr
Partner, Director of Client Service |
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Current Board Member of Heritage Fund Bartholomew County and Foundation for Youth. Past president of Foundation for Youth, the Day Nursery Foundation Board, and past vice-chairman of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Indiana. Matt was previously a Vice President and Private Banker for Bank One, N.A. and, most recently, McDonald Financial Group. Matt joined KM in 2005. |
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Darrell H. “Kip” Wright, CFA
Partner, Portfolio Manager, Senior Research Analyst |
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Kip was a Trust Investment Manager for various banks in Iowa from 1982 through 1995, most recently with Brenton Bank, N.A., with responsibilities of overall strategy and equity selection. Kip joined KM in 1995 and is a portfolio manager and senior research analyst. |
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Colin King, CFA
Senior Research Analyst |
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Colin joined KM as an Equity Analyst in 2012. Prior to joining KM, he worked in assurance services with Ernst & Young and in business valuation with Blue & Co., both CPA firms. Colin has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Indiana since 2012. |
