Prior to joining NWQ in 2006, Jim spent seven years at Bel Air Investment Advisors, LLC, a State Street Global Advisors Company, where he was a Managing Director and Partner. Most recently, Jim was Chairman of the firm's Equity Policy Committee and the Portfolio Manager for Bel Air's Large Cap Core and Select strategies. Previous to this, he spent five years as an Analyst and Portfolio Manager at ARCO Investment Management Company. Prior to that, he was an Equity Analyst at Trust Company of the West.

Jim received his B.B.A. and M.S. in Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he participated in the Applied Security Analysis Program. In addition, he earned the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst in 1994 and is a member of the CFA Institute and the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts.