I added this page because a number of firms have mistakingly assumed  we are a consulting firm like BARRA, who market software and services to pension funds and money managers. Some think we are theoreticians like Peter Fishburn or Bill Sharpe.  We are none of these things. 

We bring brilliant thinkers together with practitioners for the benefit of investors.  We are a small cadre of professors with Ph.D.'s in our chosen disciplines of finance, management sciences, and mathematics who evaluate the creative thinking of brilliant theoreticians.

When we come upon a theory, such as the mean-lower partial moment theory of Fishburn's, and we believe it might improve on current methodologies, we build a model and test the theory. If the model passes the tests, we license a company to build a commercial version and market the model to end users.

As director of PRI, I then attend conferences to speak about the underlying theory and its application. Sometimes firms like Fortis or IBM ask me to come to their offices and meet with their pension management team to discuss our research in more depth.

The first model we built was licensed to Sponsor Software Systems, who in turn licensed Frank Russell Company to market it. The second generation model incorporating style analysis was licensed to Mobius division of Checkfree Corp. Group in North Carolina and LCG Associates in Atlanta Georgia.

Allow me to introduce you to some of the colleagues it has been my pleasure to work with since I founded PRI in 1980.

Dr. Hal Forsey is the person I rely on most to determine if it is mathematically feasible to build a model utilizing this new theoretical concept.  If Hal thinks it can be done, he has to develope the formulas and write the code to make it all happen.  He literally brings the ideas of brilliant thinkers to life.

Dr. Joseph Messina is head of the department of Finance at San Francisco State University and a great authority on financial theory.  On the question of whether or not a procedure is theoreticall sound, I would value Joe's opinion over any other person I know.  Joe is doing his own thing now and it is called "Callibration Theory".  He can be reached at (415) 338-6348

Dr. David Hopelain is a philosopher and one of the most intellectually stimulating persons I have ever met.  His knowledge of organizational theory and behavioral theory are a valued asset I have called on often over the past two decades.  If you want to think out of the box, talk to Dave at topper@sierratel.com.

Of course, there are the many research assistants who have been extremely important in performing countless tests.  Khaled Salama, Shu Kwai Lin, Bernardo Kwan, and Yurdal Yalman, to name just a few.  I am happy to say they are making their own contributions in the business world now.

Then there are those practitioners who have no direct association with PRI, Like Dr. Lee Price at RCM Capital Management  who helped me with performance measurement.   Les Balzer in Australia, Bill Fouse at Mellon Capital Management, Vic Rosasco at Prudential Securities, Bob Padgette and his brain trust at Mobius, and Mike Wilkinson at LCG.  In a class all by himself is Dr. Robert van der Meer at Fortis, who shared his global vision with me many years ago and has been my co-author on several papers.  

There would be no PRI if it wern't for those who helped us get started.  Years of loyal support while we struggled to find what we believe is unique and valuable information for pension managers.  I shall always be indebted to Joseph Coffrini at MarinCounty Retirement System, Dave Redo at Bechtel, Dan Mattrocci, Bob Hellieson, and Arthur De Boer.

These are just a few of the people responsible for the accomplishments to date.   My appologies to the many others I did not mention. 

A few creative, intelligent, educated people, with lots of help, can transform ideas into benefits for millions.  That's what PRI is all about. 

Frank A. Sortino, Director