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WestEnd Advisors Overview

WestEnd Advisors is a registered investment advisor and long-tenured asset manager offering a suite of active, high-conviction domestic and global investment strategies. The cornerstone of WestEnd Advisors’ investment philosophy is that the macroeconomic environment is a key driver of financial market returns.  The investment team formulates its outlook through ongoing analysis of over 200 macroeconomic data series, and then allocates to the sectors and other areas of the market that are expected to benefit from macroeconomic tailwinds over the next six to 18 months.  Areas of the market seen facing headwinds are underweighted or avoided. The aim is to build portfolios aligned with the evolving macroeconomic backdrop to deliver alpha throughout the economic cycle.

Investment Franchise Snapshot: 

  • A disciplined and collaborative investment team applying a consistent top-down approach first developed in 1996 and implemented with ETFs since 2005.
  • Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, the portfolio managers average nearly two decades of investment experience.
  • A commitment to using qualitative analysis across a wide range of economic data helps identify areas of economic strength and weakness irrespective of where we are in the cycle.
  • A long-term track record with a vetted investment process.

Investment Team

Fritz Porter

Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager

Fritz Porter is chief investment officer and a portfolio manager for the investment strategies at WestEnd Advisors, a Victory Capital Investment Franchise. In addition to his portfolio management responsibilities, Fritz leads the firm’s research meetings and conducts macroeconomic, sector and security analysis.

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Edmund N. Durden

Chief Investment Strategist, Portfolio Manager

Ned Durden is chief investment strategist (CIS) and a portfolio manager for the investment strategies at WestEnd Advisors, a Victory Capital Investment Franchise. In addition to his portfolio management responsibilities, as CIS, Ned is responsible for distilling the Investment Team’s outlook and research to ensure clear, accurate, and effective communication of the firm’s investment views and portfolio positioning. He also conducts sector and security analysis along with macroeconomic research used to guide decisions across the firm’s investment strategies.

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Marion W. Peebles, CFA

Portfolio Manager

Ty Peebles is a portfolio manager for the investment strategies at WestEnd Advisors, a Victory Capital Investment Franchise. In addition to his portfolio management responsibilities, Ty conducts macro analysis on the U.S. and overseas economies as well as equity and fixed income markets, and security research to support the management of all the firm’s investment strategies.

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Jacob L. Buchanan, CFA

Portfolio Manager

Jacob Buchanan is a portfolio manager for the investment strategies at WestEnd Advisors, a Victory Capital Investment Franchise. In addition to his portfolio management responsibilities, Jacob conducts macroeconomic and security research and analysis to support the management of all the firm's investment strategies.

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