William Schumann

Produces and markets specialty minerals & chemicals

Distributes electronic components, enterprise computing and storage products, and embedded subsystems

Operates as an agricultural sciences company which produces insecticides, herbicides and fungicides & crop nutrition and seed treatment products

Operates as an energy contracting company that provides engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry

Operates as an oil refining company that sells and retails petroleum products

Provides engineering, construction and technical services

Great Lake Advisors' (GLA) equity investment approach focuses on a company's potential to improve its value or earning power. The firm defines earning power as a company's ability to generate profit to reinvest in the business or to distribute to shareholders. Starting with a universe of mid- and large-cap companies, GLA seeks to identify and invest in established companies and industries that they believe will experience increased earning power and whose current valuations suggest that they are underpriced due to low market expectations. GLA identifies appropriate stocks and builds portfolios through a four-step process. The firm generates investment ideas from price and profitability screens, corporate financials and information from company and industry meetings and presentations. Companies exhibiting the potential to improve returns on capital/equity are particularly attractive to GLA. The firm then builds a case for a particular holding by identifying reasons the company may achieve or sustain above-average return on capital and/or equity. They focus on changes that are likely to have positive long-term effects on return on capital, such as improved margins and/or balance sheet, better utilization of assets and cash flow and changes in industry structure and/or management team. GLA then assesses the attractiveness of current valuation of earning power, including p/e ratios and dividend yields-measures. Finally, the firm determines the enhancement to the portfolio. Selections should have a positive impact on the overall portfolio direction and diversification. Though not limited by sector, GLA tends to invest in the stocks of US large-cap companies in the producer manufacturing, finance, consumer non-durables and energy minerals sectors. The firm maintains a very low turnover rate. GLA's process for managing fixed-income investments begins with an assessment of the trends exhibited by each market sector. Their primary focus is on capturing the beneficial effects of long-term trend, rather than making short-term tactical realignments. The firm assesses structural risk/return trade-offs, credit trends, historical yield spreads, the shape of the yield curve and supply/demand. Once GLA has identified sectors offering the best long-term value, they focus on selecting individual issues that offer sufficient liquidity, a meaningful return/risk trade-off and the likelihood of increasing portfolio income.

Provides energy management systems services

Distributes agricultural and non-crop inputs