Research:
Analysts
Casey Alexander - Bio
Golf Industry / Rule 144 Research
Senior Vice President — Research, Director
James B. Boyle - Bio
Consumer and Business Services
Consumer and Business Services Analyst
Paul C. Christopherson - Bio
Chemicals
Senior Vice President — Research
Bernard Sosnick - Bio
Retailing
Senior Vice President — Research
Robert D. Straus - Bio
Specialty Consumer and Retail
Specialty Consumer and Retail Analyst
Ashish R. Thadhani - Bio
IT Services / e-Commerce
Senior Vice President — Research
Nimal Vallipuram - Bio
Alternative Energy/Cleantech
Alternative Energy/Cleantech Analyst
Casey Alexander
Casey Alexander joined Gilford Securities Inc. in February of 1996 and is a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Alexander has created and distributes a highly successful proprietary research product called Gilford Securities Rule 144 Research. Mr. Alexander also has a specialty covering the Golf Industry. Prior to joining Gilford Securities Inc. Mr. Alexander spent eight years with PaineWebber Inc. During his tenure at PaineWebber, Mr. Alexander filled multiple roles including Head of Over-the-Counter Marketing, Divisional Sales Manager and Branch Manager. Mr. Alexander successfully completed the PaineWebber Equity Institute portfolio management program. Mr. Alexander has also been employed by Prudential Securities and E.F. Hutton during his 25 year career in the securities business. Mr. Alexander is a tournament golfer and has been ranked as one of the top amateur tournament golfers in the New York metropolitan region.
James Boyle
Mr. Boyle joined Gilford Securities in 2009. His coverage is broadly focused on Consumer & Business Services, such as Market Research/ Information companies, Entertainment/ Content firms, and Leisure Technology sectors. Mr. Boyle has worked for 15 years on Wall Street and for 15 years in various Media industries. Prior to coming on board at Gilford, he was a leading senior analyst at Wachovia Securities, Alex. Brown and C.L. King. He has been widely quoted in business and consumer publications, appeared on various financial media outlets, along with presenting at national conventions and major trade conferences. In addition, he has been recognized by the Institutional Investor's magazine "II" awards. Mr. Boyle possesses degrees from Columbia University and Tufts University.
Paul Christopherson
Paul C. Christopherson was most recently chairman of New Vernon Associates, Inc., since founding it in 1992. New Vernon Associates was a multi-million dollar institutional equity research firm in Parsippany, NJ, specializing in chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It was cited by Institutional Investor magazine in its "Best of the Boutiques" starting when that poll was begun in 1994.
Previously a 17-year veteran of Wall Street, Paul was the senior chemical analyst at Bear Stearns & Co. (associate director, 1983-91), and Kidder, Peabody & Co. (vice president, 1974-82), where he was recognized by Institutional Investor's "All-America Research Team" poll, and was published in Financial Analysts Journal. A native of Minneapolis, Paul graduated from Williams College in 1968, and received an M. Div from Episcopal Divinity School in 1971, and an MBA from Columbia in 1974.
Bernard Sosnick
With more than 30 years experience as a retail industry analyst, Bernard Sosnick has garnered numerous awards and accolades for his company and sector analysis.
Bernie was cited by TheStreet.com as the "Unsung Hero of Wall Street" in 1999 and came in first for retail/broadlines in the 2001 survey of top stock pickers by StarMine. He was recognized as a "Home Run Hitter" by Institutional Investor for 2001 while also making the Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" survey in the retail broad line category three years in a row (2000, 2001 and 2002). Most recently, Bernie was cited by Forbes.com/StarMine as the #2 ranked analyst for earnings estimate accuracy in 2007.
Robert Straus
Robert Straus joined Gilford Securities from Merriman Curhan Ford Group, where he was Managing Director for the consumer and retail sectors. He covered the business and consumer services sector at ING Barings LLC (formerly Furman Selz LLC). Mr. Straus also covered specialty retail, leisure, global wireless telecommunications and equipment sectors at Furman Selz. Mr Straus has been quoted in Barron's, Business Week, Investors Business Daily, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Straus received an MBA from Bentley University in Waltham, MA.
Ashish Thadhani
Mr. Thadhani joined Gilford Securities in 2004. His coverage is focused on secular trends and niche leaders in the IT Services and e-commerce sectors: Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant and Syntel (offshoring); as well as Monster, 51job, and Ctrip. Mr. Thadhani possesses ~15 years of industry experience and has been widely quoted in the financial media: Barron's, Businessweek, CNN, Wall Street Journal, New Delhi TV and others. He has been ranked in the top-3 from a field of 60+ analysts by Zacks for coverage of the Computer Services industry in recent years. Prior to Gilford, Mr. Thadhani worked at Brean Murray (1999-2004) and Ladenburg Thalmann (1991-1999). Mr. Thadhani began his professional career at Citicorp, where he assessed the creditworthiness of major U.S. defense/aerospace contractors. Mr. Thadhani holds an MBA (Finance major) and completed his early education at The Doon School in India.
Nimal Vallipuram
Nimal Vallipuram covers the Renewable Energy/Cleantech industries and associated companies. Prior to joining Gilford, he worked for Hapoalim Securities, The Benchmark Co., Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Everen Securities and Bear Stearns and Co. Mr. Vallipuram spent 15 years as a technology equity research analyst focusing mainly on Semiconductor and Technology related stocks. His area of coverage has included U.S., European, Asian and Israeli companies. He has been quoted regularly in top finance and industry publications, and has made regular appearances on financial TV news channels. Mr. Vallipuram holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronic engineering from IIT, Delhi, India and an MBA from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.