April 11, 2007 (Tuesday, 6:30 pm) -- IBO NY Networking Meeting

Location: Midtown Executive Club, 40 West 45th Street
A great chance to network and learn about the IBO. Cash bar, plus light buffet. Free for first time guests.

Guest Speaker : Daniel O'Byrne, Royce & Associates, LLC

Dan O'Byrne is Vice President and Principal of Royce & Associates, LLC ("Royce") with US$18 billion in assets under management. Royce is a wholly owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc. Dan is also Vice President and Assistant Secretary of "Royce Value Trust, Inc" the oldest and largest Small-Cap closed-end fund in the U.S. and "Royce Micro-Cap Trust", both listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Royce Focus Trust, Inc, listed on NASDAQ. He plays a key role in securities trading for all funds managed by Royce.

In 1986, Dan O'Byrne was tending bar at the "Old Stand", one of the many Irish places that populate Manhattan's East Side. Having graduated from University College Dublin in 1983, he tried his hand at various far-flung sales jobs in Ireland, selling everything from insurance to hardware and men's clothing. Wanting a change, he came to New York City in 1985. Tending bar was lucrative, but the nights were long and the work was often draining.

Too many shifts ended with Dan "arriving home at 6 a.m. just in time to see my wife off to work at 7." Dan's wife Mary, then herself a Royce employee, told him that a part-time position was available as a mutual fund Client Service Representative for Pennsylvania Mutual Fund, our sole offering at the time. Dan accepted the job, but also hung on to a few shifts at the bar. "A wise move," he says, "since taking the position at Royce initially meant a 75% pay cut. But the opportunity was too good to turn down."

His first important assignment at Royce was researching series funds and multiple class funds, a new trend in the mutual fund business back in 1986. The fact that the Royce Fund now includes fourteen funds, results directly from Dan's seminal efforts. In 1988, he moved from the mutual fund area to a position with the investment adviser. He continued to work in multiple capacities, including helping to set up appointments for company visits, answering the phone, and doing some work settling trades. As it happened, his desk was next to the trading area. Soon, he was helping out as a trader, virtually full time.

"I really enjoyed trading and loved the quick, instant gratification you get from doing a trade. What I didn't like about it, was that you can't get away from the desk during the trading day and leave the phone. So there was no time for developing projects." By 1994, Dan's contributions to several other projects, including the design of Royces' internal Portfolio Management System software, resulted in less time at the trading desk and more attention to managerial and administrative duties. These changes coincided with the expansion of Royce & Associates, as we added more funds, services and employees throughout the '90s.

Dan credits his skills as a bartender in helping him become an effective trader. He developed the ability to listen to several people at once while still working and remaining "effective amidst the chaos." He sees the advent of electronic trading systems and the attendant technological innovations that have followed as critical developments for the industry, resulting in "more transparent stock and bond markets, good for everyone." Having Dan around has certainly been good for Royce.

In a business characterized by high employee turnover in a city where people come and go with alarming speed, Royce & Associates, LLC is proud to count many long-term staff members. In fact, about 50% of Royce employees have been with the firm more than five years, and many even longer. Almost all Royce longer-term staffers have created high-level positions for themselves, rising in responsibility like the price of a well-chosen small-cap stock.

Dan lives in Douglaston, NY with his wife Mary, a partner at Daruma Asset Management and their three children, Kate, Tom and Mary."

April 17 , 2007 (Tuesday, 6:30 pm)

IBO NJ Monthly Meeting:
Location: Molly McGuire's in Clark, NJ.

The NJ meeting is growing ! Don't miss this great opportunity to network, promote your business and meet new people with a shared heritgage. Free for IBO Members and 1st-time guests. $20 for all others. For information, please contact: Kate Conroy: kateconroy@gatewaychamber.com

Guest Speaker: TBA