Meet the Senior Members of the Team
We strive daily to be:
- the definitive source for data on the commercial transportation of goods throughout the economy;
- then add the most thought provoking insights available on freight flow trends;
- what is similar to historical trends,
- what is notably different,
- and what’s important to understanding the interdependent relationships but unnoticed by the marketplace.
Donald Broughton – Principal & Managing Partner
Donald Broughton founded Broughton Capital at the beginning of 2017, after spending over two decades as one of Wall Street’s top analysts – first at A.G. Edwards where he covered the Transportation industry, led the Industrials Research Team, and served on the firm’s Investment Strategy Committee.
His stock-picking performance has been repeatedly recognized by The Wall Street Journal as an “All-Star Analyst,” by Forbes in its “When Picky Analysts Pick” series, and ranked by both Zacks Investment Research and Starmine as a 5-Star Analyst (their highest rating). He is a frequent guest on national broadcast media, such as CNBC, Bloomberg, and the Nightly Business Report. Many in the transportation industry know him for his quarterly tracking of trucking bankruptcies. Notorious as a hard-hitting forensic accountant, as a ‘Sell-side analyst’ he used ‘Sell’ ratings more often than any other Transportation analyst, and is highly regarded for his forecasts that translate goods flow data into economic forecasts.
Prior to going to Wall Street, Mr. Broughton spent almost a decade in various Distribution and Operations management roles in the beverage industry, including serving as the Corporate Manager of Distribution for the Dr Pepper / Seven-Up companies and Chief Operating Officer for Bevmark Concepts. He is convinced that most individuals know more about the economy than they realize, and believes that economists are only boring because they are lazy, or choose to be.
Andy Harding – Managing Director, Sales
Andy believes that building strong relationships and customer trust is the key to any successful sales effort. Prior to joining Broughton Capital as one of the original founding team members, Andy spent 10 years at Avondale Partners as a Director helping to grow their sales and trading departments. Prior to that Andy was an Institutional Equity Sales Trader at Soleil Securities and Prudential Securities where he obtained his Series 7, 63 & 55 licenses. Andy’s experience also encompasses high net worth sales and corporate accounting. He is a graduate of The University of South Florida with a BS in Finance. Andy currently lives in Norwell, Massachusetts with his wife and three children.
Das Brain – Chief Data Scientist, Managing Director
Our Chief Data Scientist is well known to our clients and is one of our founding team. He prefers to stay out of the limelight, and frankly as one of our most valuable assets, we find it easy to respect his wishes. As an Investment Analyst, publishing research on transportation stocks and macroeconomic trends and has worked in the financial services industry since 2001. Prior to being part of the original team, he performed investment research at a wealth advisory firm and later became an Associate Analyst covering technology and transportation stocks for many years (hint – he and our Managing Partner have worked together since they met at A.G. Edwards). He received his BS in Business Administration with a major in Finance from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and his MBA with a concentration in Finance from Saint Louis University. He is also a CFA Charterholder and earned the AIF® designation in 2015. Attainment of the AIF designation demonstrates understanding of the Prudent Practices® and methodology. He enjoys spending time with his wife and four children, playing golf, traveling, and learning.
James Marks – Vice President Senior Counsel
A legal problem-solver who embodies one of our favorite principles – “Tough but Fair.” He has a breadth of knowledge and experience in a wide variety of areas of law – ranging from previously serving as a corporate general counsel before joining us; to his many years as a dynamic, tenacious, and highly respected litigator; and as the trusted private counsel for individuals, families, and businesses.
James endeavors to create proactive legal solutions wherein all parties benefit and trust is maintained, by balancing his aggressive assertion of the facts and zealous protection of his client’s interests, with creative and innovative approaches. He is steadfastly committed to the rule of law and the principals upon which our legal systems were founded, as he pursues common sense resolutions that reflect dispassionate fairness. He holds a BS in philosophy and a BA in psychology from Southeast Missouri State University, and a Juris Doctorate from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Scott Redding – Vice President Information Technology
An I.T. professional with over 30 years of managing and supporting information and telecommunication systems, services and staff in the Financial Services industry, Scott is an invaluable part of our firm with an incredibly difficult role. Since we don’t hire people who don’t have higher than average levels of intellect and education, as well as some serious technology skills, supporting us and our demands is one ‘tall order.’ His reward, on a more regular basis than any of us would like to admit, is this – “When we create an I.T. problem which we can’t fix, it is not ever going to be a small or easy problem to fix.”
Roberta Schulte – Controller
Roberta is a public accounting firm veteran who remembers when it was called the Big 8. While surrounded by finance nerds, she has forgotten more about GAAP than the rest of us know – when FASB publishes an exposure draft (solicits feedback on rule changes) she reviews the proposal and often submits commentary. “It has to make sense; it must logically foot. What the Florentines created in the 14th century is sacred. It financed the Renaissance. Without those Italians, John Locke and Thomas Jefferson would have been as impertinent as Karl Marx.”
From day one, she has been instrumental in managing our firm’s capital and cash flow. The person most responsible for enabling us to grow without ever borrowing, Roberta is why we were able to establish the firm and grow it without ever borrowing. We love to help other firms find access to capital, but with her help we intend to remain debt free. Unlike most of the members of our firm, she is not an empathetic extrovert. Instead, she prides herself on debits and credits, verified accuracy, and making sure everything gets filed or paid on time. Those who claim “they’d like to get to know her” have never been late paying one of our invoices.
Bob Buchanan – Chief Strategist, Voice of Wisdom
In his decades as a Sell-Side Analyst, Mr. Buchanan was widely recognized as the best analyst following the Retailing Industry; named an “All-Star Analyst” three times by Institutional Investor Magazine and “Best on the Street” seven times by the Wall Street Journal. That experience, shored up by real-world experience at Costco and Hudson’s Bay, allows him to be our team’s sharpest critique, while also being our strongest advocate and trusted friend.
He provides our team and our clients, with insights that are profound, yet so straightforward in their simplicity that often “we can’t believe we didn’t think of that before.” When not bedeviling us, Mr. Buchanan teaches at a local university, manages his portfolio of investment holdings, and provides many of those management teams with his bedeviling support.
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How can we help? We have created customized solutions, for clients in the transportation industry and clients who invest in the financial markets, that produce the ability to consistently outperform the competition.