Investment Panel

The MDSII investment panel comprises seasoned investment professionals and distinguished faculty, together contributing a wealth of knowledge, industry experience, and investment research to the program.

Martin D. Sass

Martin D. Sass is the founder, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of M.D. Sass. He has partnered in startups of 34 investment management businesses and strategies. Sass has executed sales of businesses with approximately $35 billion in assets under management. He is chairman of the SASS-ARENA Foundation for Medical Research, vice chairman of the Brooklyn College Foundation and chairman of its Investment Committee, and he founded the M.D. Sass Investment Institute. He earned his B.S. from Brooklyn College. Previously, Sass was president and chief investment officer of Neuwirth Management and Research Corp. and founder and director of Argus Research Corp.’s Special Situations division. He began his investment career in 1963.

Ari D. Sass, CFA

Ari Sass is president and senior portfolio manager of M.D. Sass. Prior to joining the firm in 2004, Sass was CEO and co-founder of Insound LLC, a media firm founded in 1999 and subsequently sold to Time Warner and private equity. Previously, he was manager of finance at Elektra Entertainment Group and held positions at Bear Stearns and Deloitte & Touche. Sass has a B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from New York University. He has more than 19 years of investment experience.

Qing Hu

Qing Hu is dean of the Murray Koppelman School of Business and professor of business management at Brooklyn College. He previously served as senior associate dean for Academic Affairs and Innovation and professor of information systems in the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. His research focuses on cybersecurity and the impact of IT on organizational strategy, culture, and performance. He has published more than 130 research articles and has been an invited speaker at universities and conferences around the world. His work has been cited over 12,000 times, with an h-index of 41, according to Google Scholar.

Craig Barney, CFA

Craig Barney is senior vice president, senior equity analyst at M.D. Sass. Prior to joining the firm in 1998, Barney was an analyst at Morgan Stanley. He has over 25 years of investment experience and holds a B.S. from Villanova University.

Ante Basic

Ante Basic ’90 is a member of the investment panel for MDSII. He is a founding partner of Trigon Investment Advisors, a firm that specializes in systematic foreign exchange strategies that aims to profit from volatility in selected major, dollar-block and emerging market currency pairs. Basic began his career working for Chase Manhattan Bank from 1990 to 1996 in the bank’s Global Trading Strategies Group. After working for Chase he co-founded Global Capital Market Strategies. Trigon Investment Advisors currently has $580 million worth of assets under management.

Eric Ward

Eric Ward is an equity analyst at M.D. Sass. Prior to joining M.D. Sass in 2022, Ward was an investment analyst within the financials team at LMR Partners, a multi-strategy hedge fund. He has a B.S. in finance and accounting from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He has over 15 years of investment experience.

William Chiappone, CFA

William Chiappone is a trader and research analyst at M.D. Sass. Prior to joining the firm in 2020, Chiappone was an analyst in the middle office group of Bluecrest Capital Management. He has over five years of investment experience and holds a B.S. in finance from University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Seungho Baek

Seungho Baek is an associate professor of finance and vice chair of the Department of Finance and the doctoral faculty of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Ph.D. program in economics. His research focuses on empirical asset pricing, risk management, portfolio management and investment, and financial engineering. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Futures Markets, Journal of Fixed Income, and Applied Economics, among others. He is the chapter adviser of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society at Brooklyn College.

Ken Globerman

Ken Globerman serves as the faculty adviser for the M.D. Sass Investment Institute. He is a private equity investment professional and active member of the adjunct faculty at Brooklyn College and Baruch College. Previously, Globerman helped launch Midas Medici Group Holdings, a New York–based private equity operation managing a portfolio valued at more than $500 million in combined enterprise value. Globerman also launched and managed three successful startups in Europe, focusing on venture capital investment, business communications, and education. His interests include business applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence, particularly as they apply to the education industry. He holds an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a B.S. in applied mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Martin D. Sass

Martin D. Sass

Martin D. Sass

Martin D. Sass is the founder, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of M.D. Sass. He has partnered in startups of 34 investment management businesses and strategies. Sass has executed sales of businesses with approximately $35 billion in assets under management. He is chairman of the SASS-ARENA Foundation for Medical Research, vice chairman of the Brooklyn College Foundation and chairman of its Investment Committee, and he founded the M.D. Sass Investment Institute. He earned his B.S. from Brooklyn College. Previously, Sass was president and chief investment officer of Neuwirth Management and Research Corp. and founder and director of Argus Research Corp.’s Special Situations division. He began his investment career in 1963.

Ari D. Sass, CFA

Ari D. Sass, CFA

Ari D. Sass, CFA

Ari D. Sass is president and senior portfolio manager of M.D. Sass. Prior to joining the firm in 2004, Sass was CEO and co-founder of Insound LLC, a media firm founded in 1999 and subsequently sold to Time Warner and private equity. Previously, he was manager of finance at Elektra Entertainment Group and held positions at Bear Stearns and Deloitte & Touche. Sass has a B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from New York University. He has over 19 years of investment experience.

Qing Hu

Qing Hu

Qing Hu

Qing Hu is dean of the Murray Koppelman School of Business and professor of business management at Brooklyn College. He previously served as senior associate dean for Academic Affairs and Innovation and professor of information systems in the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. His research focuses on cybersecurity and the impact of IT on organizational strategy, culture, and performance. He has published over 130 research articles and has been an invited speaker at universities and conferences around the world. His work has been cited over 12,000 times, with an h-index of 41, according to Google Scholar.

Craig Barney, CFA

Craig Barney, CFA

Craig Barney, CFA

Craig Barney is senior vice president, senior equity analyst at M.D. Sass. Prior to joining the firm in 1998, Barney was an analyst at Morgan Stanley. He has over 25 years of investment experience and holds a B.S. from Villanova University.

Ante Basic

Ante Basic

Ante Basic

Ante Basic ’90 is a member of the investment panel for MDSII. He is a founding partner of Trigon Investment Advisors, a firm that specializes in systematic foreign exchange strategies that aims to profit from volatility in selected major, dollar-block and emerging market currency pairs. Basic began his career working for Chase Manhattan Bank from 1990 to 1996 in the bank’s Global Trading Strategies Group. After working for Chase he co-founded Global Capital Market Strategies. Trigon Investment Advisors currently has $580 million worth of assets under management.

Eric Ward

Eric Ward

Eric Ward

Eric Ward is an equity analyst at M.D. Sass. Prior to joining M.D. Sass in 2022, Ward was an investment analyst within the financials team at LMR Partners, a multi-strategy hedge fund. He has a B.S. in finance and accounting from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He has over 15 years of investment experience.

William Chiappone, CFA

William Chiappone, CFA

William Chiappone, CFA

William Chiappone is a Trader and Research Analyst at M.D. Sass. Prior to joining the firm in 2020, Mr. Chiappone was an analyst in the middle office group of Bluecrest Capital Management. He has over five years of investment experience and holds a B.S. in finance from University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Seungho Baek

Seungho Baek

Seungho Baek

Seungho Baek is an associate professor of finance and vice chair of the Department of Finance and the doctoral faculty of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Ph.D. program in Economics. His research focuses on empirical asset pricing, risk management, portfolio management and investment, and financial engineering. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Futures Markets, Journal of Fixed Income, and Applied Economics, among others. He is the chapter adviser of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society at Brooklyn College.

Ken Globerman

Ken Globerman

Ken Globerman

Ken Globerman serves as the faculty adviser for the M.D. Sass Investment Institute. He is a private equity investment professional and active member of the adjunct faculty at Brooklyn College and Baruch College. Previously, Globerman helped launch Midas Medici Group Holdings, a New York-based private equity operation managing a portfolio valued at over $500 million in combined enterprise value. Globerman also launched and managed three successful startups in Europe, focusing on venture capital investment, business communications and education. His interests include business applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence, particularly as they apply to the education industry. He holds an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a B.S. in applied mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Brooklyn. All in.