James Patrick O'Shaughnessy (born May 24, 1960) is an American

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

and venture capitalist, currently serving as the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures. He is the founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC (

OSAM The Osam ( bg, Осъм ) is a river in northern Bulgaria. Its drainage basin is in between that of the river Vit to the west and the Yantra system to the east. Поречието на р. Осъм The river has two main tributaries in its upper ...

), an

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

firm that Franklin Templeton later acquired. O'Shaughnessy's areas of expertise include

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

equity analysis, portfolio management, research decisions, and

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

models. O'Shaughnessy has authored several books that use Standard & Poor's Compustat database to provide extensive quantitative analysis of

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...

performance. O'Shaughnessy has been awarded several U.S. patents for his

investment strategies In finance, an investment strategy is a set of rules, behaviors or procedures, designed to guide an investor's selection of an investment Portfolio (finance), portfolio. Individuals have different profit objectives, and their individual skills make ...

and was recognized as a legendary investor by

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

. O'Shaughnessy is the former

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

for the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber music. CMS's home is ...

and currently serves as the chair of the capital campaign for CMS. He is also a member of the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

for Common Good. In September 2022, O'Shaughnessy joined the board of directors for Stability AI as its Executive Chair.

Early life and education

James P. O'Shaughnessy was born and raised in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, where he attended

Saint Thomas Academy Saint Thomas Academy (abbr. STA), originally known as St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary and formerly known as St. Thomas Military Academy, is the only all-male, Catholic, college-preparatory, military high school in Minnesota. It is located in Mendota H ...

as a youth. His fascination with the stock market began at an early age when he started to manually track characteristics common to the 30 companies in the

Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...

stock index. After studying

international economics International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns and ...

and business diplomacy at the School of Foreign Service of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, O'Shaughnessy graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 1986. O'Shaughnessy continued to apply his research of the stock market, and in 1994, his first book, ''

Invest Like the Best James Patrick O'Shaughnessy (born May 24, 1960) is an American investor and venture capitalist, currently serving as the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures. He is the founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC (OSAM), an asset management firm t ...

'', was published, followed by the first edition of ''

What Works on Wall Street James Patrick O'Shaughnessy (born May 24, 1960) is an American investor and venture capitalist, currently serving as the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures. He is the founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC (OSAM), an asset management firm t ...

'' in 1997, ''

How to Retire Rich James Patrick O'Shaughnessy (born May 24, 1960) is an American investor and venture capitalist, currently serving as the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures. He is the founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC (OSAM), an asset management firm t ...

'' in 1998, and ''

Predicting the Markets of Tomorrow James Patrick O'Shaughnessy (born May 24, 1960) is an American investor and venture capitalist, currently serving as the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures. He is the founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC (OSAM), an asset management firm t ...

'' in 2006.

Career

Mutual Funds

O'Shaughnessy started his own

mutual funds A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...

under the names Cornerstone Growth and Cornerstone Value in 1996. In 1997, the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

(RBC) launched the RBC O'Shaughnessy mutual funds for Canadian investors. Currently, there are seven mutual funds in the RBC O'Shaughnessy funds family.

O'Shaughnessy Capital Management

After graduating, O'Shaughnessy worked for a family-owned venture capital firm. During this time, his interest in quantitative research was recognized by a colleague who was on the board of directors with O'Shaughnessy at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The colleague suggested that O'Shaughnessy's research might be well suited for pension plan management. In 1988, O'Shaughnessy started O'Shaughnessy Capital Management, Inc. and began consulting large pension funds and foundations.

Netfolio

In 1999, O'Shaughnessy started Netfolio, The Personal Fund Company, to offer individual investors the ability to build their own diversified portfolio over the internet. The company was closed in 2001. As part of Netfolio's concentration on "personal funds", O'Shaughnessy Capital Management sold its mutual fund family to Hennessy Advisors in June 2000.

Bear Stearns Asset Management

In 2001, O'Shaughnessy and his team from O'Shaughnessy Capital Management moved to Bear Stearns Asset Management (BSAM), where O'Shaughnessy served as a Senior

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and the

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of Systematic Equity.

O'Shaughnessy Asset Management

In 2007, O'Shaughnessy reached an agreement with Bear Stearns to spin his Systematic team out of BSAM to form O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC. O'Shaughnessy Asset Management was acquired by Franklin Templeton in 2021. O'Shaughnessy later announced that he'd retire at the end of 2022.

O'Shaughnessy Ventures

In January 2023, O'Shaughnessy launched his self-described passion project, O'Shaughnessy Ventures, a "creative company that inspires creators". O'Shaughnessy Ventures focuses on 4 specific areas: Infinite Adventures, Infinite Films, Infinite Media, and the O'Shaughnessy Fellowships program. In addition to its flagship investment into Stability Ai, O'Shaughnessy Ventures' other key investments include Positive Sum, Chaotic Capital, Permanent Equity, Anchorless Bangladesh, Prefect, Synthesis School, Eighty-Seven Capital, Entrepreneur First, and Ladder.

Personal life

O'Shaughnessy married his wife Melissa in August 1982. O'Shaughnessy has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. In 1991, O'Shaughnessy moved his family to Greenwich, Connecticut, to be closer to the New York area, where most of his business was located.

Bibliography

Books authored by

* ''Invest Like the Best: Using Your Computer to Unlock the Secrets of the Top Money Managers'', 1994,

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

. . * ''How to Retire Rich: Time-Tested Strategies to Beat The Market and Retire in Style'', 1998,

Broadway Books Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquired Rando ...

. . * ''What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time'', 3rd Edition, 2005,

. . (1st Edition, 1997, ; 2nd Edition, 1998, ) * ''Predicting the Markets of Tomorrow: A Contrarian Investment Strategy for the Next Twenty Years'', 2006,

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...

. .

Commentary authored by

* "A Generational Opportunity." Yahoo! Finance, March 17, 2009. * "Successful Active Stock Investing is Hard: Here are Seven Traits that I Believe are Required for Active Investors to Win in the Long Term." Yahoo! Finance, March 13, 2017. * "What Works on Wall Street." Talks at Google, March 21, 2017 (Published April 5, 2017).

Books about

* * * * *

References

External links

O'Shaughnessy Ventures Website

O'Shaughnessy stock market commentary: archive

Manager Profile: Bear Stearns Asset Management
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oshaughnessy, James 1960 births Living people American financiers American money managers American chief executives of financial services companies American philanthropists Economists from Minnesota American investors American finance and investment writers University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Stock and commodity market managers American financial analysts American stock traders 21st-century American economists Chief investment officers