David Fletcher Case

This case explores the problems managers face when assembling a team. David Fletcher, is an overworked portfolio manager of the Emerging Growth Fund at Jenkins, Fletcher Partners (JFP), an investment management firm in New York. As an individual, his superior performance throughout his career has earned him an outstanding reputation. Starting out as a clerk, he rose through the ranks of Wall Street to eventually manage the two most aggressive mutual funds at a major investment firm. Success at this firm only added to his reputation and lead to his current role at JFP, a smaller firm with an informal culture. At JFP, Fletcher is challenged with the new responsibility of managing a team, in addition to managing his portfolio.

Despite Fletcher’s success as a portfolio manager, it has become clear to him over the recent years that he needs help managing the information on which he based his investment decisions. Though his analyst and former administrative assistant, Stephanie Whitney, provided support with health care, environmental, and retail stocks, Fletcher concluded that it was time to hire a team of people who could relieve him of the the in-depth company analyses which took so much of his time. After speaking to various colleagues regarding strategies on selecting and managing research teams, he discovered three general approaches. A fellow JFP portfolio manager developed a stable of part-time consultants to whom he turned to as needed. An acquaintance at one of the largest firms employed seasoned industry specialists with discretion to buy and sell stocks in their particular areas. Finally, his friend and colleague Robert Tepper, who ran a firm similar in size and strategy to JFP, employed a small team of analysts that specialized in various industries. Tepper explained that he typically hired people who possessed less than five years of investment experience. This would allow Tepper the opportunity to train each analyst in his own investment method,