Senior Professionals

Daniel R. Gross, CFA - Principal

 

Dan has over 25 years of experience in the areas of investment consulting, corporate financial planning and cash management, PC systems technology and database/information management.

 

Dan earned a masters degree from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University with concentrations in finance and economics.  His undergraduate degree is a BS from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with majors in finance and accounting. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Institute

 

Prior to founding Strategic Capital, Dan was a senior consultant for J. H. Ellwood & Associates, Inc.  He was responsible for obtaining and managing relationships for large, multiple investment program clients.  He has consulted to a wide spectrum of clients that have included; hospital-related (funded depreciation, self-insurance, debt-related, etc.) qualified and non-qualified benefit plans and foundations. Dan provided advice in a wide variety of investment areas - from policy formulation to ongoing monitoring.

 

Prior to joining J. H. Ellwood, Dan managed assets for the internally managed pension programs at Amoco Corporation and Commonwealth Edison.  At these organizations, he was involved in analyzing investment opportunities and managing various investment portfolios.

Russell K. LaBarge, CFA  - Principal

 

Russ has 22 years experience in the areas of investment consulting, investment structure/policy and manager research, portfolio management, performance evaluation and database/information management.

 

Russ earned an MBA, with focus in finance and accounting, from DePaul University.  His undergraduate degree is a BS from Illinois State University with majors in finance and management and a minor in economics.  He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Institute.

 

Prior to founding Strategic Capital, Russ was a senior consultant with Ennis, Knupp & Associates focusing on Multi-employer and public fund clients.  At EK&A, he co-managed the firm’s Taft-Hartley consulting and business development area.  He directed the firm’s international equity and master trust/custody research areas and was a member of the firm‘s Investment Policy Group. Russ also provided consulting advice to all types of clients in the areas of international equity structure, international manager evaluation and selection, currency hedging, master trust/custody service provider evaluation and search, coordination of asset restructuring and securities lending analysis and risk management

 

Prior to joining EK&A in 1992, Russ was a relationship manager for large corporate clients and an assistant portfolio manager in the personal trust department at The First National Bank of Chicago.  Other past positions include performance analyst for another major investment consulting firm and a registered representative for a brokerage firm.

Jeffrey F. Kuchta, CFA  - Senior Consultant

 

Jeff has 14 years of experience in investment consulting, asset allocation, portfolio management, risk management, and manager research.  He has particular expertise in the field of hedge funds and fund-of-funds.  Jeff’s primary responsibilities include the design and delivery of investment consulting advice and participation in manager research activities.

 

Jeff earned a BS in Finance from Northern Illinois University.  He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of Chicago.

 

Prior to joining Strategic Capital, Jeff was a Managing Director of Second City Alternatives, LLC where he provided sub-advisory, asset allocation, manager selection, and due diligence for several hedge fund-of-funds clients.  Prior to Second City, he was the Senior Portfolio Manager for Mansur Capital Corporation’s multi-strategy, multi-manager hedge fund-of-funds product where he directed the asset allocation, manager selection, risk management and industry research efforts.  Prior to Mansur, he was a consultant with Hedge Advisors, Inc. where he offered portfolio management, risk management, manager research, due diligence, and general industry education to high net worth and institutional hedge fund investors.  Jeff also previously held research, portfolio management, and consulting positions with Grosvenor Capital Management LLC and Ennis, Knupp & Associates.