William O’Grady, Chief Investment Strategist, Confluence Investment Management, will offer his outlook for 2012, discussing what he sees as the key geopolitical issues that will affect the world and the markets this year.
Bill joined Confluence Investment Management in November 2008 and previously served as Vice President and Chief Investment Strategist for Wachovia Securities. As Chief Investment Strategist, Bill provided short-term asset allocation advice for Wachovia's Advisory Services Group. In addition, Bill managed Wachovia's Global Macro Asset Allocation program, an ETF-based alternative asset program.
Prior to this, Bill served in a variety of positions in his 19-year tenure at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. including Chief Global Investment Strategist, Assistant Director of Market Analysis, and Manager of Futures Research. Bill also served as a member of the A.G. Edwards Investment Strategy Committee. Prior to joining A.G. Edwards, Bill was the international economic and administrative officer of Mercantile Bank in St. Louis, developing country risk analyses for international lending activities.
In all, Bill has more than 20 years of experience following the energy, foreign exchange and futures markets. Bill is known for his geopolitical commentary along with his energy and currency background and is frequently quoted by such national media outlets as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, CNBC, CBS News, Dow Jones News Service and Investor's Business Daily. Bill earned a Bachelor's degree in History and Public Administration from Avila College and a Master's degree in Economics from St. Louis University.