Centennial Speaker Series: Fireside Chat with Jon Brolin and Roy Behren of the Merger Fund

Merger arbitrage, or merger arb, is the investment specialty focused on investing in announced mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, and other corporate reorganizations. It is a practice that combines math, judgment, and a keen understanding of various legal, regulatory, and industry dynamics.

How do these arbitrageurs practice their craft? What skills do they require? What frameworks do they employ? How has the industry been involved in the past few decades and where is it going? How should an inspiring candidate think about opportunities in this field?

Join us for an afternoon webinar between Roy Behren, co-president and co-chief investment officer at Westchester Capital Management LLC, as he discusses his 35-year history in the investment industry, including his expertise in merger arb and 15 years as portfolio manager of the Merger Fund, with Jonathan Brolin, founder and managing partner of Edenbrook Capital LLC.

Agenda
12 p.m.: Welcome Remarks and Speaker Introduction: Sris Chatterjee, chair, Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis

12:08: p.m.: Fireside Chat: Jon Brolin and Roy Behren

12:45 p.m.: Audience Q&A

1 p.m.: Closing Remarks: Sris Chatterjee

About the Speakers
Jonathan Brolin is the founder and managing partner of Edenbrook Capital LLC, which he founded in 2011. Edenbrook takes a private equity approach to public markets, principally through concentrated, long-term investments in small- and mid-cap companies. This approach involves identifying equities that are undervalued on a fundamental basis, performing intensive research on companies and industries, understanding existing and potential levers for creating value, and collaborating with management teams and/or other constituents to unlock shareholder value over a multiyear period. Brolin currently serves on the board of directors of Frequency Electronics Inc. and CXO Nexus Inc.

Brolin has 25 years of experience in public and private equity investing and investment banking. In addition, he serves as a fellow at the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis and taught Advanced Topics in Value Investing for seven years as an adjunct professor of finance at the Gabelli School of Business. He earned his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.  Brolin earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and general honors student. When he’s not searching for value, he can be found watching, coaching, playing, or thinking about baseball.

Roy Behren is co-president and co-chief investment officer at Westchester Capital Management LLC, an investment management affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners. Behren is also a co-portfolio manager at both Westchester and its affiliate Westchester Capital Partners LLC.

He was named managing partner of Westchester in 2010, having held the role of chief compliance officer from September 2002 through June 2010. He joined Westchester in 1994 from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s New York Regional Office, where he worked as an enforcement attorney for seven years. He also served as a member of Redback Networks’ board of directors and its audit committee from 2004 through 2006.

Behren earned a B.S. in economics at The Wharton School, a J.D. from the University of Miami Law School, and an LL.M. in corporate law from the New York University School of Law. He began working in the investment industry in 1987.

This event is co-sponsored with the CFA Society New York, the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis, and the Museum of American Finance.