Employee Profile — Tom Fanter

October 11, 2024

By nmallicote on October 11, 2024

INVESTED: Tell us a bit about your role and history at Curi RMB Capital. 

I’m a partner and have been with the firm for seven years. As our director of equities, I lead our public equity investment team. Like all our equity team members, I am a hands-on participant in our investment process. I personally co-lead our research in the Technology and Communications Services sectors and have been investing in this space for over 20 years as a portfolio manager and senior analyst. In addition, I manage an equity portfolio specifically focused on top cloud software companies that we see as well-positioned to capitalize on long-duration growth opportunities.

INVESTED: What was your background before coming to Curi RMB Capital, and what led you here?  

I’m an engineer by undergraduate degree and initially worked in engineering and technology consulting roles. Pursuing my full-time MBA at Northwestern University presented an opportunity to pivot toward investing in technology companies, rather than working for them. This led me to an investment role with a firm managing billions of dollars in high-quality public equity portfolios for sophisticated institutional clients. Institutional clients place a big emphasis on having a rigorous and repeatable investment process, which was a great fit with my engineering background. In addition to playing various investment roles for the team, I helped to establish a strong culture of continuous investment process improvement. When that firm and many of its investment team members joined RMB Capital in 2017, I naturally transitioned into the role of director of research and later director of equities. That culture of constantly getting better has carried through to RMB Capital, and now to Curi RMB Capital.

INVESTED: What makes Curi RMB Capital the right firm for you?  

At Curi RMB Capital, our equity team truly has the experience and resources to design and manage high-caliber equity solutions delivered across client types ranging from institutions to family offices to individual private clients. Serving this range of clients challenges us to execute not only as investment analysts and decision-makers, but in the areas of product design, process improvement, and client service. I personally enjoy the versatility that this requires of our investment team and the variety that this brings to our daily lives. There is nothing like being held to the high process standards of our institutional clients while also connecting directly with the private clients who are impacted by our investment decisions.

INVESTED: What keeps you busy when you’re not in the office or focused on clients?

In the past year, the oldest of my three kids left home for college. It’s been rewarding, exciting, and a little scary to watch him embrace that independence and to see his world open up. It’s also given my wife and I a new destination to visit! Seeing him go makes us appreciate our other two high schoolers while they are still in the house. We’ll enjoy the soccer, football, tennis, and lacrosse games while they last. Once we have an empty nest, we will lean into our enthusiasm for fitness and the outdoors. My wife provides personal wellness and fitness training, and I lead a men’s training group in weekly high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions. We hope to continue both for years to come.

INVESTED: Give us your closing thoughts on the equities team you work with, the larger asset management team, and market considerations for the upcoming new year.

The equities team I work with

Our public equity investment team is made up of around a dozen portfolio managers and securities analysts. We average more than 20 years of experience, with many team members holding CFA® charters and/or advanced degrees. Collectively, we manage more than $3 billion of client assets invested in our internal portfolios of high-quality equities.

Our analysts are typically organized by sector of the market and work across all our equity strategies. This structure creates a balance of focus and broader awareness across the team. Beyond picking stocks and managing our internal portfolios, our equity team also interacts directly with our advisors and with our clients. This ranges from commentary on individual stocks to engagement with clients and prospects to custom equity portfolio design, in the case of some of our larger clients.

The larger asset management team

Like our equity team, our greater asset management team provides clients with what we believe to be a truly specialized array of investment offerings that span all asset classes on a global basis. Across equities, fixed income, and alternatives, our teams utilize industry-standard as well as proprietary research systems in the hands of skilled investment professionals to identify exciting investment opportunities while managing risk for our clients. Outside of the office, we’re also a collegial group that genuinely enjoys spending time together.

Thoughts on 2025

With the U.S. stock market being driven by a narrower group of leaders than ever before and central bankers steering toward the next easing cycle, 2025 could be a dynamic year for domestic and international equity markets. Our analysts have deep experience in every major sector of the market, and each sector has its own considerations heading into 2025. In technology, investors should begin to see whether the dramatic level of artificial intelligence investments by some of the world’s largest companies begins to deliver a meaningful financial return. In health care, we are watching whether the strong post-COVID recovery in health care utilization is sustainable. Consumer companies will see their pricing power tested after several years of strong price increases and an increasingly fickle consumer spending attitude. A key issue for financials, particularly banks, will be the timing and magnitude of Fed policy rate easing given its impact on net interest income and, ultimately, credit losses. As ever, this environment will be best navigated with thoughtful research, prudent decision-making, and a long-term investment horizon.

Read the Full 2024 Issue of INVESTED

The opinions and analyses expressed in this presentation are based on Curi RMB Capital, LLC’s (“Curi RMB Capital”) research and professional experience are expressed as of the date of this presentation. Certain information expressed represents an assessment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast or guarantee of future performance, nor is it intended to speak to any future time periods. Curi RMB Capital makes no warranty or representation, express or implied, nor does Curi RMB Capital accept any liability, with respect to the information and data set forth herein, and Curi RMB Capital specifically disclaims any duty to update any of the information and data contained in this presentation. The information and data in this presentation does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, investment or other professional advice.

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