Analyst Biographies

Craig is Head of Technology Research at Caris and Company and is the firm's Senior Semiconductor Analyst. He comes to Caris from Citi, where most recently he led the firm's Specialty Semiconductor franchise since 2004. The team frequently attained top-5 rankings in Greenwich Associates' annual survey, placing 2nd and 3rd in 2008 in Analog and Communications IC's, respectively. Further, the franchise was a key part of Citi's third-ranked Institutional Investor Semiconductor team in 2007 and 2008 and Citi's top-ranked Institutional Investor Technology Team in 2008. Prior to Semiconductors Craig covered Imaging Technology in 2002 and 2003, ranking third in Institutional Investor's 2003 All-America Research Team. From 2003 through 2008 he frequently garnered Citi's coveted "Stock Call of the Month" award for accurate and impactful stock calls. He began his Citi career on the II-ranked Enterprise Hardware team in 2000 and 2001 after coming to Wall Street via Shroders' II-ranked Energy team in 1997, becoming that firm's Independent Refiners analyst in 1999.

As a set-up to his four-sector sell-side career he enjoyed 10 years at Chevron Corporation in Strategy and Finance roles, cultivating expertise in planning and execution, business process restructuring, and cross-functional team leadership.

Mr. Ellis graduated from Montana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business with a major in Finance and minor in Economics. He holds the Series 7, 24, 63, 86 and 87 securities registrations.

Ben Pang covers the Semiconductor Capital Equipment and Solar sectors. He joined Caris & Company from the Prudential Equity Group where he was ranked 7th by Institutional Investor in the Semiconductor Capital Equipment sector. Prior to Prudential, he was an analyst at JP Morgan focused on the Test and Assembly sector for semiconductors. He was also a research associate for the highly ranked Semiconductor Capital Equipment research analysts at both JP Morgan and Banc of America Securities. Mr. Pang has over 10 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and held key management and engineering positions at Applied Materials.

Mr. Pang graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Mr. Pang holds the Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 securities registrations.

Rob Cihra
Managing Director

Hardware & Storage

 

Rob brings more than 10 years experience as a senior technology analyst on both the buy- and sell-side. Rob joins us from Brompton Cross Capital, a TMT hedge fund where he spent 3 years focusing on tech/hardware, semiconductor and communications companies across global markets. Previously, Rob was a senior sell-side analyst covering computer hardware, storage and mobile technologies, including 3 years at Fulcrum Global Partners, and 5 years at ABN Amro/ING Barings/Furman Selz. At ABN Amro, Rob was also named Global Head of Hardware Research. Rob has been a contributing speaker at several industry events, including IDEMA's Diskcon conference, recognized "Best Up-and-Comer" by Institutional Investor and in the Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" survey. Prior to his finance career, Rob was Director of Operations for Globe-Tek Systems, a privately held Canadian software developer.

Mr. Cihra earned his MBA and BA, Economics from the University of Western Ontario. He currently currently holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 registrations.

Curtis Shauger is a Senior Vice President in the Equity Research Department at Caris & Company, where he covers enterprise software. He joins Caris from aAd Capital where he was responsible for covering all technology, media and telecom. Prior to aAd, Mr. Shauger was the lead analyst covering software and IT services at Seasons Capital in San Francisco. Prior sell-side experience includes CIBC World Markets, where he was the lead infrastructure software analyst and Banc of America Securities where he was an a associate analyst covering security and telecom software.

Mr. Shauger graduated from the University of Southern California, with a Masters in Business Administration and San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. He currently holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 registrations. Mr. Shauger is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Sandeep Aggarwal covers Internet & Software at Caris & Company.   He brings 14 years of global experience in investments, strategy, and business operations focusing on Internet and technology. Prior to joining Caris & Company, Sandeep was a senior research analyst at Collins Stewart and Oppenheimer & Co. covering the Internet sector.  Prior to Oppenheimer, Sandeep worked in the II ranked equity research team at Citigroup focusing on the Internet sector.  Before transitioning to Wall Street, Sandeep worked at Microsoft in Redmond, WA, in a strategy planning role for Windows. During his time at Microsoft, Sandeep worked very closely with the senior leadership team on many key strategic issues including the launch of Windows Vista, PC market and emerging markets.  Prior to Microsoft Sandeep worked in a strategy role at Charles Schwab in San Francisco on online technology infrastructure and data centers for Schwab.com.   Prior to moving to US, Sandeep worked for five years in India, primarily in investment banking and strategic consulting including working with a JV partner of Goldman Sachs and as a co-founder of a small boutique investment banking firm.

Sandeep has an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, a master in finance and management from the Institute of Management Studies Indore, and a Bachelors in Commerce from Kurukshetra University in India.  Sandeep is a chartered member of TiE.   He holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 securities registrations.

David W. Miller is a Managing Director at Caris & Company covering the Media and Entertainment Industries, and is focused on several sub-segments within the sector, including film exhibition, digital cinema, broadcasting and cable television, theme parks, entertainment licensing, radio, outdoor media, Hispanic media and emerging technologies. Prior to joining Caris, Mr. Miller was a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Sanders Morris Harris Group, based in Los Angeles. While at SMH, and in 2003, Mr. Miller was ranked #1 by Institutional Investor Magazine for the media sector among boutique/regional firms. Prior to SMH, Mr. Miller was a Vice President covering the Media/Entertainment sector at Sutro & Co., also in Los Angeles. Mr. Miller has held a variety of position throughout multiple industries, including notable roles at the Walt Disney Company and Texaco, Inc.

Mr. Miller graduated from Northwestern University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications and Political Science, and holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1997. Mr. Miller holds the 7, 63, 86 and 87 securities registrations.

Ann Hynes joins Caris & Company from FTN Equity Capital Markets (formally FTN Midwest). Prior to FTN, Ms. Hynes worked at Leerink Swann for five years where she covered the health care services universe including acute care hospitals, post-acute facilities, hospice, ambulatory surgery centers, pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) and retail pharmacy. At Leerink Swann, Ms. Hynes was a senior member of a health care research team that was named "Best of the Boutiques" by Institutional Investor in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Ms. Hynes began her Wall Street career at Cowen and Company, where she spent six years as part of the health care services team.

Ms. Hynes holds an MBA from Boston College, Carroll School of Management and a BS from Fairfield University. She holds the Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 licenses.

James Molloy joins Caris & Company from Oppenheimer & Company where he was a Vice President covering the specialty pharmaceutical sector. While at Oppenheimer Mr. Molloy led the build-out of Oppenheimer's specialty pharmaceutical research platform and spearheaded the development of Oppenheimer's Physician Diner Series, matching investors with specialists in the healthcare field. Mr. Molloy was ranked #3 in the pharmaceutical sector by Forbes.com/StarMine for earnings estimate accuracy during 2007, and he brings 10 years of sell-side experience. Prior to Oppenheimer Mr. Molloy covered specialty pharmaceuticals, biotech, and selective medical device companies at Leerink Swann & Company.

Mr. Molloy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Colorado, Boulder, and an M.B.A. from the FW Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. He holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 licenses.

Paul K. Choi
Senior Vice President
Medical Devices & Diagnostics

Paul Choi is a Senior Vice President and covers the medical device and diagnostic sectors at Caris & Company. Prior to joining Caris & Company, Paul was at Merrill Lynch for five years where he was a Vice President and medical device equity research analyst on a #1 ranked Institutional Investor team covering the global medical technology and services sector. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Paul was an economist at Deloitte & Touche and a neuroscientist at the University of Colorado and has published several articles in leading scientific journals. Paul is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Mr. Choi holds the Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 licences.

Leo Carpio
Vice President
Health Care IT & Services 

Mr. Carpio is a Senior Research Analyst covering the Health Care Information Technology and Services sector. Mr. Carpio joins Caris & Company from Prudential Equity Group, LLC, where he spent seven years covering numerous healthcare sectors including Healthcare Facilities, Managed Care, and Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Prior to serving as senior Healthcare IT analyst, Mr. Carpio was an Associate Analyst on the Prudential Healthcare Research team.

Before joining Prudential, Mr. Carpio worked at MetLife, where his coverage extended to consumer, commercial, and mortgage finance companies. Previously, Mr. Carpio was an Associate in Merrill Lynch's Finance Department. Mr. Carpio began his career with GE Capital in the municipal finance insurance division Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC).

Mr. Carpio holds a B.A. in Management from The University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School and an M.B.A. in Corporate Strategy & Finance from the University of Michigan with honors. He holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 licenses.

Ms. Kohler brings to Caris & Company nineteen years of experience as an energy analyst. Most recently, Ms. Kohler was a Senior Analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co. where she focused on the independent refining sector. Ms. Kohler started her Wall Street research experience at Salomon Brothers in 1990. Her other experiences includes senior research positions at Kidder, Peabody, where she was responsible for the domestic and international integrated oil firms and the independent refiners, and UBS Securities, where she covered the independent refiners and fertilizer companies. She also worked at several boutique sell-side firms, including IRG Research, Gilford Securities and HD Brous, where her coverage of the energy universe included integrated oils, independent refiners, specialty chemical, oilfield service and maritime shipping companies.

Ms. Kohler graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in economics. She holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 Securities registrations.

Ben Pang covers the Semiconductor Capital Equipment and Solar sectors. He joined Caris & Company from the Prudential Equity Group where he was ranked 7th by Institutional Investor in the Semiconductor Capital Equipment sector. Prior to Prudential, he was an analyst at JP Morgan focused on the Test and Assembly sector for semiconductors. He was also a research associate for the highly ranked Semiconductor Capital Equipment research analysts at both JP Morgan and Banc of America Securities. Mr. Pang has over 10 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and held key management and engineering positions at Applied Materials.

Mr. Pang graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Mr. Pang holds the Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 securities registrations.

Ms. Bolton Weiser brings to Caris & Company over 15 years of experience as an equity research analyst. Prior to joining the firm, she was a senior equity analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. for over seven years, where she covered the Household Products; Personal Care/Cosmetics sector, as well as Toys. She was ranked #2 in the Wall Street Journal "Best on the Street" survey for stock selection in her sector in 2003 and 2006, and was also named the top Household Products analyst by Bloomberg Markets magazine in 2005, based on S&P 500 stock selection. Ms. Bolton Weiser was named the #1 Stock Picker in Personal Products and #3 Earnings Estimator in Household Products in May 2006, and the #1 Earnings Estimator in Personal Products in May 2007 by Forbes.com. In 2003, she was named "Best Up-and-Coming Analyst" in her sector by Institutional Investor magazine.

From 1992 to 2000, Ms. Bolton Weiser was a buy-side equity analyst at AllianceBernstein, where she followed stocks in the industrial and consumer sectors. From 1998 to 2000, she was Portfolio Manager of the Alliance Global Environment Fund.

Ms. Bolton Weiser holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. degree in Biochemistry from Wellesley College. She holds the Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 securities registrations.

Dorothy Lakner joined Caris & Company as a Managing Director covering specialty retailing/softlines, bringing nearly 25 years' experience following the retail industry. Prior to joining Caris, she had been a senior equity analyst covering specialty retailing/softlines for CIBC World Markets (now Oppenheimer), known particularly for her expertise on the teen apparel sector. Ms. Lakner began her research career in 1984 at L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg Towbin and held senior research positions covering specialty retailing at E.F. Hutton and Deutsche Bank Capital Corp. before joining Oppenheimer in 1991, where she began to focus more exclusively on apparel retailers. Ms. Lakner is a five-time Wall Street Journal All-Star analyst in the category of apparel retailers.

Prior to her experience as an analyst, Ms. Lakner taught French literature at Mills College and Columbia University. She holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College, an MA from Middlebury College and a PhD from the University of Chicago. Ms. Lakner holds the Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 securities registrations.