Keel Asset Management Opens

Keel Asset Management is an employee-owned boutique firm that will use a relative value approach within mid-cap core and mid-cap value strategies. KEEL ASSET(sm) branded strategies are dedicated to investing in US stocks with market capitalizations between $250 million and $10 billion and fully diversified across all major industry sectors. The firm will focus on managing assets administered by a variety of institutions including corporate, public, Taft Hartley plans, and endowments/foundations.

Watson will lead a team of professionals whose complement of skills span the investment spectrum. Having previously worked together, the firm’s employees are bound by their commitment to incorporate the best practices in investment management to benefit clients.
In announcing the launch of the firm, Watson observed: “There remains a significant opportunity to develop and market first-tier products to the institutional marketplace to aid clients in meeting their return targets. Keel is poised to fill that need.”

Keel’s core strength lies in Watson’s significant experience and in his ability to assemble a dynamic investment team. Over the past 20 years, he has served as President and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Kenwood Group, Inc. in Chicago; Managing Director at Equinox Capital Management, LLC in New York City; Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Analyst at PPM America (US subsidiary of Prudential PLC in London); and Equity Analyst at First National Bank of Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase), where he launched his investment career. He earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Champaign. He has been a featured guest on financial cable and radio programs as well as in the financial press, including Bloomberg Radio and TV, WBBM Radio, CBS Market Watch and Barron’s.