Ken Marshall

Ken Marshall formed Development Group on the sale of his equity stake in Octagon International Holdings, a hedge fund and boutique investment bank ($260 million in assets) that he helped found in 1998. Octagon was the culmination of 25 years on Wall Street, where Ken created investment management and capital markets products, designed trading platforms, and managed portfolios. He launched the Octave-1 Fund, the Equitable Global family of funds, the Worldwide Income fund for Dean Witter, the foreign-exchange options business for First Chicago National Bank, and the corporate credit desk at Pru-Bache Securities. At Covenant Capital Management ($400 million), his global fund enjoyed a number-three ranking by Lipper and a four-star rating by Morning Star. He has a M.S. and A.B.D in international economics from the Ph.D program at the University of Wisconsin (Madison).

Rob Labell

Rob Labell brings a host of quantitative analysis and data integration skills to the task of building portfolios for Development Group clients. He specializes in generating and interpreting performance analytics, including customized portfolio assessments and attribution analyses (e.g. returns-based, holdings-based, risk-based). A former VP of product development at Factset Research Systems, Rob has the expertise to evaluate and also implement software systems so that clients might generate for themselves the critical metrics they need to succeed in the hedge fund market. Prior to joining Factset, Rob was a principal in the Global Active Equity Group of State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.A. in finance.

Melinda Meschter

Melinda Meschter complements the Development Group team with 20 years' experience as an editor, writer, and marketing professional. Upon the sale of her creative services firm, Haley Garland & Lahr, where she wrote award-winning ad copy, Melinda worked as a senior editor for Hearst magazines. Since joining Development Group, her specialty has been revamping pitch books, one-pagers, cover letters, Powerpoint presentations, and websites. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University.

Jan Nolte

Jan Nolte, our presentation coach, evaluates and perfects the "live pitch" performance of hedge fund principals, asset managers, and marketing representatives. Drawing on her years in the theater, Jan has trained senior executive officers and auctioneers at Christie's International and senior managers at PepsiCo. She holds a B.F.A. from the Acting Conservatory at Purchase College.