Stephen J. Waltrich receives second annual Platinum Mission Award, 12.16.11

Award recognizes an employee who best reflects the firm’s mission statement in action

BERWYN, Pa., December 16, 2011 – Stephen J. Waltrich, director of operations, institutional accounts, is the recipient of the second annual Platinum Mission Award at Turner Investments, an employee-owned investment-management firm based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. The award honors the employee who best exemplifies the principles of Turner’s Our Mission statement on and off the job.

Mr. Waltrich, a resident of Glenside, Pennsylvania, was one of 11 nominees for the Platinum Mission Award and was selected by a vote of Turner employees, who currently number 135.

The Platinum Mission Award is designed to encourage employees to live up to the nine principles of conduct and commitments articulated in Turner’s mission statement and recognize those employees who do so in an exceptional way. The award is presented annually to one of the employees who in that year has received a preliminary award, the Mission Award, presented in honor of individual achievements that reflect the mission statement in action.

Mr. Waltrich’s superior job performance and leadership were cited as demonstrations of certain commitments articulated in Turner’s mission statement, which was written by Bob Turner, chairman and chief investment officer, when the firm was founded in 1990.

Mr. Waltrich was recognized specifically for his adherence to two commitments in the Our Mission statement: "the opportunity for career growth in a positive and enjoyable work environment," and "recognition of the personal dignity of each individual." For his part, Mr. Waltrich "supports and motivates his team, keeping it on its toes day in and day out," said Andrew Mark, chief technology and operations officer. "Steve takes operations errors in administering our institutional portfolios very seriously because the errors can have costly consequences. Under Steve’s positive guidance, his operations team has done an exceptional job of minimizing those errors."

Also, Mr. Waltrich has taken on new responsibilities: completing foreign-market registrations, reconciling investment transactions made in foreign currencies, and settling trades in long/short portfolios. As Scott Swickard, global security analyst, noted, "Steve is the man behind the curtain, keeping all of the countless daily transactions and settlements for our portfolios in order. It’s a vital job that at its best goes unseen. And it’s a testament to Steve and his team that we in the Growth Investments Team rarely hear about the Operations Department – and what we do hear is positive."

Mr. Waltrich is a principal of the firm, which manages more than $12 billion in growth, global/international, and long/short investments in stocks for both institutions and individuals, as of September 30, 2011. He joined Turner in 1999 as operations coordinator and was promoted to his current position, director of operations, institutional accounts in January 2010.

He received a bachelor of science degree in business logistics from The Pennsylvania State University in 1997 and a master of business administration degree in finance from La Salle University in 2001.