Frank Sustersic uses drive and
self-assessment to outperform

Frank Sustersic analyzes data from Bloomberg in the course of his research as a senior portfolio manager/global security analyst at Turner Investments.

Frank Sustersic, senior portfolio manager/global security analyst at Turner Investments, received an unusual early lesson as an investor, courtesy of a blackjack table in Atlantic City.

As undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Frank and some classmates had a fruitful night in the casinos. After their night out, they decided to pool their winnings and purchase a technology stock they had done some casual research on.

The result? The stock plummeted, hurt by a poor management team.

Having subsequently learned the lesson to thoroughly research his stock picks, Frank can laugh about his inauspicious start in the stock market now, as he looks back on a 22-year career as a professional investor who has earned accolades and recognition industry-wide.

Worked at First Fidelity

After graduating from Wharton with a bachelor’s degree in economics and gaining the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, Frank was hired as a portfolio manager at First Fidelity Bank in Philadelphia, where he began learning the basics of security analysis and evaluating stocks.

Frank was quickly handed the reins to a poorly performing quantitative portfolio, known as the Social Principals Fund.  The bank planned to shut down the small-to-mid-cap fund, which had dwindled to about $4 million in assets.

But Frank had other ideas.  He subsequently turned around the fund’s performance, and as a result the fund attracted more than $300 million in assets.

After a few years at First Fidelity, Frank was looking for an independent firm with a flat corporate structure and growth investment strategy he could embrace.  In 1994 he found Turner Investments, and he’s been here ever since.

Refining his process

In his current role, Frank is head of the Health Care Sector Team, where he closely monitors the medical-devices and health-care information-technology industries, and the portfolio manager of the Turner Micro Cap Growth Equity institutional portfolios and Turner Select Opportunities, a long/short portfolio.

As an analyst, he uses companies’ operating models, income statements, balance sheets, and competitive positioning to make investment decisions.  He has proven able to identify strong market performers early in their life cycle – a critical skill for successful growth investors.  

Frank prides himself on never being satisfied with his investment performance, constantly “grinding through reports,” as he puts it, to uncover promising investment ideas.  He and his team assess new investing threats and opportunities through daily team meetings, quantitative screens of stocks, and other tools.  He looks for companies with unique products or services that have the potential for sustained growth.

This approach has served him well as the portfolio manager for the Turner Emerging Growth Fund, the mutual-fund counterpart of Turner Micro Cap Growth Equity.  The Turner Emerging Growth Fund was recently recognized by No-Load Fund Analyst for its impressive track record.  It wasn’t the first time Frank has been lauded.  Frank’s stock picking has been cited favorably by Forbes, Morningstar, U.S. News & World Report, and other publications, and he has been a guest on CNBC and other television networks. 

Frank Sustersic: "There are always research topics I’m trying to learn about. Because knowledge leads to better investment decisions."

Success depends on drive

The recognition, while personally satisfying, holds a more practical lesson for Frank: it encourages him to avoid complacency, to be ruthlessly self-critical, and to avoid becoming too attached to a stock for any reason.  “For me, past investment success serves as an effective check against an unintentional shift in your investment strategy, among other distractions,” he says.

At age 44, Frank has come a long way from the impetuous blackjack-playing student who rolled the dice on a tech stock.  He credits his success partly to a strong memory and the ability to piece together information from a multitude of sources and draw investment conclusions.  But perhaps most of all, Frank’s determination to be as well-informed as possible and excel has helped him consistently outperform market indexes.

“You have to have a strong drive to work in this field,” he says.  “You have to always want to improve your knowledge and performance.  The tough part is getting older – I used to get by on four or five hours of sleep, now I need closer to six or seven.”

Source: No-Load Fund Analyst, June 2011. The information has not been reviewed by Turner for completeness or accuracy.

Performance

*Returns are linked with Turner Emerging Growth Fund - Investor Class (inception date 2.27.98). Please see Performance Information for more details.

Performance Information
The performance data quoted represents past performance. The principal value and investment return will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data shown here. Returns shown, unless otherwise indicated, are total returns, with dividends and income reinvested. Returns spanning more than one year are annualized. Fee waivers are in effect; if they had not been in effect performance would have been lower. Mutual fund investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. The performance presented for the Institutional Class links the performance of the Investor Class of shares, adjusted for fees and expenses for periods prior to the inception of this class of shares, from inception date on February 27, 1998 to February 1, 2009 with the performance of this class of shares after its inception on February 2, 2009. Performance can vary over short time periods. Please call 800.224.6312 or visit our website at www.turnerinvestments.com for most recent month

Effective October 1, 2010, the Turner Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC, Portland, ME. The investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. This information can be found in the prospectus. A free summary or statutory prospectus, which contains detailed information, including fees and expenses, and the risks associated with investing in this fund, can be obtained by calling 800.224.6312 or by visiting www.turnerinvestments.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Mutual fund investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Holdings are subject to change. Funds that take a focus or sector specific approach are subject to greater risk from downturns affecting a specific issuer or industry.