Michael is the CEO, Chief Investment Officer, and founding partner of Taika Capital, LP. He oversees all of the firm’s investment and business activities and is the lead portfolio manager of the firm’s flagship hedge fund. He’s a CFA Charterholder with a B.S. in Economics from Drexel University where he graduated at the top of his class (Drexel University Valedictorian: Class of 2011).Michael built his career specializing in combining fundamental and quantitative analysis in the stock selection/portfolio management process and has extensive management, leadership, and client-facing experience. Prior to his current role, Michael spent 13 years on the buyside across a variety of roles and firms. Most recently, he was a Portfolio Manager and the Lead Tech and Communication Services Analyst at PNC Capital Advisors, LLC (PCA). During his tenure at PCA, Michael was a key member of the Large Cap Equity team which managed over $7 billion in assets under management across a variety of strategies. Michael also launched and managed several multi-factor equity funds (PLEIX, PEWIX, PLIVX) and was a co-portfolio manager of the highly ranked PNC Balanced Fund. Earlier in his career, Michael spent several years covering the health care sector and lead his team’s quantitative investing efforts.Before joining PCA, he was a member of the investment team at Turner Investment Partners (a multibillion dollar mid cap equity hedge fund) and worked on the options trading desk at Susquehanna International Group (SIG) in 2008.Aside from his professional endeavors, Michael has been seeking impactful philanthropic opportunities and has spent many years supporting the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Philadelphia, and Drexel University’s Finance and Co-op programs in various capacities (including guest lecturing for the university’s capstone finance course and student mentorship which has spanned well over a decade).