Zacks Investment Management

As the firm's primary expert on quantitative investing, Mitch Zacks joined Zacks Investment Management in 1996 and has led the portfolio management team for many years. While he oversees all portfolio management activities at the firm, he is principally involved in the engineering of Zacks strategies, and he has personally developed many of the firm’s proprietary models.

Prior to joining Zacks, Mitch was an investment banking analyst with Lazard Frères. He has become widely recognized as an expert on corporate earnings, having written two books on quantitative investment strategies: Ahead of the Market, which details the Zacks method for spotting winning stocks early in any cycle, and The Little Book of Stock Market Profits: The Best Strategies of All Time Made Better, which was one of the top selling investment books in its publishing year. He has written a weekly column for the Chicago-Sun Times and currently produces a popular report, “Mitch on the Markets”.

As the head of all fixed income strategies at Zacks Investment Management, Manish Jain brings to the portfolio management team an in-depth knowledge of the bond market and high-yielding investments.

Manish has nearly 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry and is an expert on corporate, government and municipal bonds, as well as preferred stocks, MLPs, and other income-producing investments. Prior to joining Zacks, Manish was an investment manager for People’s Bank, where he also served as a portfolio manager in the trust department. His experience and expertise are instrumental to the team’s process of designing customized income strategies for Zacks clients.

Tony Zhang is a quantitative analyst focusing on multi-factor, sector-specific alpha models. Prior to joining Zacks Investment Management, he served as adjunct assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Tony holds a Ph.D., an M.B.A (with honors), and the CFA designation. His research accolades include three best paper awards and the publication of more than 20 papers in top international journals and conferences.

Prasanth Sankar’s role as a portfolio manager and quantitative analyst involves co-managing several of Zacks’ investment strategies, while developing and refining several of the firm’s proprietary models.

Prasanth has a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics and applies his mathematical background to the investment process through sophisticated and in-depth quantitative analysis. This enables him to identify anomalies and develop investment models.

As a Data Scientist, Metin Akyol researches quantitative models through the analysis of big data. Research is foundational to the Zacks approach, and Metin’s is crucial to the management of several Zacks strategies.

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Metin has also worked at the European Central Bank, the Center for European Economic Research, and the Deutsche Boerse-Eurex. He earned his doctorate in Economics with honors from the University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany, and his research has been published in top journals. A recognized industry expert, he has presented at numerous conferences, has earned a best paper award, and has served as an adjunct professor at Trinity Christian College in Illinois.