Scott Opsal, CFA Director
Scott oversees asset allocation, investment policies, and team coordination. He also conducts in-depth research using fundamental and quantitative analyses to support the firm’s portfolio and strategy recommendations.
Other areas of focus include facilitating idea flow within the firm’s research team, leading the asset allocation and investment strategy committees, and serving as a key contributor to The Leuthold Group’s institutional research publications.
Scott brings over forty years of professional investment experience to the Leuthold team. As Chief Investment Officer of Invista Capital Management and Head of Equities at Members Capital Advisors, he was involved in all aspects of firm management, establishing policies on risk management, asset allocation, quantitative techniques, style-based investing, and taxable investing. He designed and implemented institutional-grade research and portfolio management processes to provide a rigorous, consistent framework for decision making and the analytical tools that drive strategy for multi-asset portfolios.
Scott’s past corporate-level activities included serving on management and investment policy committees; staff recruiting and hiring; representing the equity group at fund board meetings; marketing and supporting wholesalers and financial representatives; and selecting outside sub-advisors.
In his experience as a portfolio manager, Scott introduced new tools, including factor analysis, valuation models, quantitative ranking and comparison tools, target price and position weighting analysis, risk management, and performance attribution. He established relationships with top pension consulting firms and competed in institutional finals searches, bringing in new third-party assets from a national base. Scott’s portfolio management assignments included international equity, domestic equity, taxable investing, and convertible securities. He was twice named as one of Barron’s Top 100 Mutual Fund Managers.
Just prior to joining the Leuthold team, Scott fulfilled a lifelong career goal by serving as Director of the Applied Investments Program and teaching Security Analysis and other finance classes at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Scott received his B.S.B.A. from Drake University in 1982 and an MBA from the University of Minnesota in 1983. He earned his CFA designation in 1986 and recently served on the CFA Society Madison Board of Directors.
