Founded in 1970 with a Houston-based HQ, today we manage around US $16.9 billion* of equity and fixed income portfolios for non-profit, public and corporate plans and individuals.

 

*as at 31 March 2025

Built on a client-focused philosophy

We believe investing is about offsetting future obligations, not just having market exposure.
The Vaughan Nelson philosophy can be summed up on three short statements:

  1. Temporary inefficiencies and time arbitrage create long-term opportunities
  2. Targeted return focus
  3. Concentrated, high-conviction, high-active share.

Vaughan Nelson is an affiliate of global asset management company Natixis Investment Managers.

Available in Australia

Vaughan Nelson is a global leader in small-mid cap equities and has been investing on behalf of institutional clients in Australia since 2008.

In 2022 the Vaughan Nelson Global Equity SMID Fund and the Vaughan Nelson Global Equity SMID Fund – Active ETF were launched in the Australian market.

Vaughan Nelson is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) under the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) in respect of financial services provided to wholesale clients.

Our firm

Organisation
Organisation

US $16.9 billion under management as of 31 March 2025

6 Equity strategies

5 Fixed income strategies

People
People

56 employees

27 investment team professionals

13 Chartered Financial Analyst designations

2 Ph.D.s

Philosophy
Philosophy

Short-term inefficiencies create long-term opportunities

Targeted return focus

Concentrated, high-conviction, high active share

Process
Process

Unconstrained benchmark agnostic

Rigorous, bottom-up fundamental analysis

Macro environment impacts security selection and construction

Photo credit: Peter McBride

Investment Team

The Global SMID cap strategy is managed by specialist teams working together to achieve outcomes for clients.

Portfolio Managers
Drive idea generation, portfolio construction, and risk management for their portfolios.

Analysts
Generalists who support portfolio managers’ decision-making by generating ideas, monitoring and suggesting position changes, and applying capital allocation team’s research to the portfolio.

Capital Allocation Specialists
Industry specialists with a focus on identifying key investments and trends in their industry.

Lead Portfolio Manager & CIO

James Eisenman CFA, CPA
Lead Portfolio Manager

  • Began financial services and accounting career in 2002
  • Masters in Accounting, Ohio State University, 2002
  • B.B.A., Ohio State University, 2002, with Honours

Chris Wallis CFA, CPA
CEO, CIO and Senior Portfolio Manager

  • 30 years’ investment management / financial analysis and accounting experience
  • MBA, Harvard Business School, 1998
  • BBA, Baylor University, 1991

Risk Management

William Wojciechowski, PhD
Chief Risk Officer

  • 20 years investment management and financial analysis experience
  • PhD, Rice University, 2001
  • MA, Rice University, 1999
  • MS, West Virginia University, 1996
  • BS, Carnegie Mellon University, 1992