About Us

Founded in 2004 by ex-Motley Fool portfolio managers Tom Jacobs and Jeff Fischer to rebel against the stock newsletter floggers of the time, Complete Growth Investor LLC ("CGI") is committed to helping investors gain knowledge, confidence and results. We model the masters, not the media megaphones. 

Our commitment:

  • Every CGI service (today CGI Growth & Value Focus and Blueprint Investor) manages real-money portfolios, as you do in real life. 
  • We only provide stock ideas that we back with our own money, and we tell you before we buy or sell.  
  • We promise what we can deliver, not what we can't--even though promising the moon would make a heckuva lot more money off of you than with you.  
  • Growing long-term relationships means better investing for everyone. If we tell the truth--investment returns are measured in years (beginning at five, ideally) and across portfolios, not per stock--we believe the long run is better for everyone. 
  • We are aspire to the highest standards of service, not the cynicism of the marketplace.  

Here is our team, in alphabetical order:

Jeff Annello
Ragu Chandrasekaran
Stuart Carlton
Jason Fitnich
John Morrow

Jeff AnnelloJeff Annello, Manager and Co-Manager, CGI Growth & Value Focus Defensive and Active Value Portfolios

Before joining CGI, Jeff was the owner and star of the Circle of Competence blog, www.circleofcompetenceblog.com, a value-oriented stock analysis blog that among other things did pioneering analysis of Sardar Biglari and Western Sizzlin’.

Though unique, Jeff calls to mind a younger Matthew Richey (who is still young!) of Centaur Capital, our friend, colleague and master value investor who at the same age was already proving to be an investing star.  

Jeff is a third year Accounting major in the Honors Program and scholarship recipient at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. With a CPA and CFP father behind him, he is a gifted analyst and writer with plans to study for the CFA Level 1.   

Jeff believes the learning process never ends and he must continuously further his investing knowledge. While his current grasp of value investing, Buffett, and the great managers is quite impressive, and his common sense and maturity outstanding for any age let alone only 20, we will all gain from his growth over time. We are, after all, Complete Growth (groan)!

 

Stuart Carlton, Blueprint Investor

Stuart is a long-time friend of CGI, a former teacher and current Ph.D. candidate in Florida. Because he is right where most Blueprint investors find themselves, he is just the right person to answer questions, point to resources, and serve as your online Blueprint buddy. Use him!

 

Ragu Chandrasekaran

Ragu Chandrasekaran, Manager GVF Defensive Value Portfolio

Ragu came to CGI first as a member through his value investing, after reading Graham and Buffett changed his life. We were very impresssed by his blog, riskversusrewardinvesting.com, and his posts and snapped him up before someone else could grab him. He brings rare clarity to his investment analysis for members, and is unparalleled in cutting through to the essence of reports, filings, and conference calls. Nothing distracts his eye from the value ball.

He left Silicon Valley after 10 years as a software engineer to return to his home, Madras/Chennai, India, were he lives with his wife and young son.

 

Jason Fitnich

Jason Fitnich, Co-Manager GVF Growth Portfolio

My investment interests include value and growth investing. I am an easy target for anything Buffett related but am open to different investing methods and/or strategies. I’ve been investing for over ten years and started in of all places, biotech, just in time to watch Celera and Human Genome light the world on fire back in the late nineties. 

After watching my biotech portfolio tank and learning some hard lessons, I started reading value investor Arne Alsin’s articles on Realmoney.com and figured out that free cash flow was the place to be. Free cash flow made the most sense because it was just an offshoot from my commercial loan training: everything left over after paying debt, capex and expenses was the company’s to do with what it wanted. I got fed up trying to keep track of how many “Hidden Gems” I was supposed to be watching and joined CGI in August 2008.  

My interests include exercising and Premier League Football (Soccer); I started watching after the last World Cup and never stopped. My favorite team is Tottenham, simply referred to as “Spurs”. They don’t always win but always entertain. I have been happily married for nearly four years. We don’t have any kids, yet… just a cat, Churchill, a half-Himalayan / half Persian named after Winston. After graduating from Ferris State University in 1999 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, I joined the commercial lending division of a Michigan bank as a credit analyst. I’ve worked for several Michigan banks over the last 9 years and now manage a group of underwriters from Central Michigan.  

 

John Morrow, Head of Customer Service

John helps CGI out in addition to working as a network administrator and real estate investor in the U.S. and Lithuania.