Commentaries

May: Look for progress, not perfection – May 1, 2013
Market Roundup – By Brian Jacobsen, Ph.D., CFA, CFP^®, Chief Portfolio Strategist, John Manley, CFA, Chief Equity Strategist, and James Kochan, Chief Fixed-Income Strategist

The economy refuses to roll over – April 26, 2013

China and Venezuela: Part of the emerging markets slowdown story – April 15, 2013

What economy is the Fed watching? – April 5, 2013

A new dawn for the Bank of Japan? – April 4, 2013

Cyprus—the last straw? – March 18, 2013

Christian Chan
Head of Investments

Christian Chan oversees the Investments Group at Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC. He and his team are responsible for researching and developing capital markets strategies and for managing the multi-boutique investment approach of Wells Fargo Advantage Funds. Mr. Chan has over 15 years of manager research and asset allocation experience and has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst^® (CFA^®) designation. He joined Wells Fargo in 2001. Previously, Mr. Chan worked at mPower Advisors as director of investments and at Asset Strategy Consulting as a senior analyst.

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Brian Jacobsen, Ph.D., CFA, CFP^®
Chief Portfolio Strategist

Brian Jacobsen is chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management Group. He has a Ph.D. in economics. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst^® (CFA^®) designation and is a Certified Financial Planner^TM certificate-holder. In addition to his role at Wells Fargo conducting research and giving presentations on the markets and the economy, Mr. Jacobsen is an associate professor at Wisconsin Lutheran College. His research and teaching center around economics, finance, and investing.

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John Manley
Chief Equity Strategist

John Manley is chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC. He has more than three decades of investment industry experience, earning distinguished accolades along the way. Mr. Manley spent the majority of his career with Smith Barney and its successor firms, where his roles included chief quantitative strategist, chairman of the Investment Policy Committee, and chief U.S. portfolio strategist. He also worked with that firm's private client effort as senior U.S. equity strategist. He is a seven-time member of the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team and was voted “Most Popular Analyst” in the Smith Barney Financial Advisor poll for several years running.

Mr. Manley earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Boston College. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst^® (CFA^®) designation.

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James Kochan
Chief Fixed-Income Strategist

James Kochan is chief fixed-income strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Distributor. He has 35 years of investment industry experience. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, he was director of Fixed Income Asset Management and bond market strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co. Prior to joining Baird, he spent ten years at Merrill Lynch as fixed income strategist and manager of Fixed Income Research. Mr. Kochan has also held research positions with Chase Manhattan Bank and The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. While at Merrill Lynch, he was named to the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team for bond market strategy. His research reports are frequently quoted in the financial press. Mr. Kochan has graduate and undergraduate degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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