Gerald B. Smith is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Smith Graham & Co., a global investment management firm specializing in managing global Fixed Income and Equity portfolio strategies for institutional clients. He is Vice Chairman of the firm’s Investment Policy Committee and Chairs the Executive Committee. One of the oldest and largest minority-owned money management firms in the nation, Smith Graham & Co. manages nearly $6 billion in assets.

Prior to the formation of Smith Graham & Co., Gerald served as Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed-Income for Underwood Neuhaus & Company. He also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee prior to the merger of Lovett Mitchell Webb & Garrison, Inc. with Underwood Neuhaus. In addition, Gerald served as First Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing and Sales at Westcap Corporation, Investment Bankers, responsible for national sales and trading with institutional investors. With Dillon Read and Company in New York, he worked with the nation’s largest institutional investors and fund managers in the fixed-income sector, trading and advising in the area of portfolio management.

Gerald currently serves as Lead Independent Director and Deputy Chairman of Cooper Industries, a leading worldwide manufacturer of electrical tools and hardware, and as director for Charles Schwab Mutual Funds where he serves as Chairman of the Investment Oversight Committee. He also serves as director and Audit Committee Chairman for OneOK Partners, a diversified energy company and one of the largest publicly traded Master Limited Partnerships. As Chairman of the Audit Committee, he oversaw the largest MLP related party transaction valued at over $3 billion.

Gerald has previously served on the boards of Pennzoil-Quaker State, Rorento Fund, N.V., Rotterdam, Netherlands, and First Interstate Bank of Texas. He was also a founding member of the New York Futures Exchange where he worked with institutional investors in hedging their interest rate risk by using financial futures.

Gerald has a long history of giving back to the community through his service with numerous civic and charitable organizations. His current affiliations include: Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) where he serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee; Founding Chairman of the Houston Museum of African American Culture; the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors; Chair of the Texas Southern University Foundation; and, the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) Board of Directors. Gerald graduated from Texas Southern University with a BBA in Finance.

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Robert W. Norton is an Executive Vice President and Director of Sales and Marketing. He has over 32 years in sales and marketing experience across several industries but most extensively in the institutional investment management arena. At Smith Graham, he leads the marketing and business development efforts. Immediately prior to joining Smith Graham, he was Director of Sales at Ark Asset Management Co., Inc. Honing his skills further, Robert was Vice President, Marketing/Client Servicing at Lehman Management Co., Inc. Prior to that, he was a consultant to Taft Hartley, Public & Corporate Pension Plans at SEI Funds Evaluation Division. Robert began his career as a National Sales Manager at Glit, Inc.

Robert received his MBA from Seton Hall University and his BS from Montclair State College.

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