Jim O'Shaughnessy developed his passion for money management as a teenager, listening to his uncles argue about their stock portfolios. The discussions were heated and passionate, and revealed strong opinions about which CEO was smarter or what business model was better. Jim started to question if there might be a more scientific and less emotional way to invest.

In 1987 he founded O'Shaughnessy Capital Management. At this new equity research firm he began to put some of his investment theories into practice. The evidence he found supporting empirically tested, disciplined and quantitative investing began to mount. In his 1994 book, "Invest Like the Best," Jim revealed that you could outdo the world's best portfolio managers by simply copying their fundamental stock selection principles, and then implement their ideas with more rigorous discipline.

In 1996 he published the first edition of the bestselling What Works on Wall Street, a methodical, empirical research study that uncovered the best fundamental characteristics for buying stocks over the last 50 years. The book cemented O'Shaughnessy's belief that a quantitative, disciplined and emotionless investing process was superior to conventional active management. The publication also marked O'Shaughnessy's entry into the asset management business. (The book's fourth edition is published in November 2011 and offers data on almost 90 years of market performance.)

In 2001, Jim and his team joined Bear Stearns Asset Management (BSAM), thereby gaining greater access to the high-net-worth investor and institutional marketplaces. Through a combination of continued strong performance in the O'Shaughnessy portfolios and a longer real-time track record, assets under management grew faster than any other manager at the firm.

In 2007 BSAM and the O'Shaughnessy team agreed to an amicable separation, allowing Jim and his team to return to their entrepreneurial roots forming O'Shaughnessy Asset Management with the entire portfolio management team and strategy records in place.

As of March 31, 2012 Jim and his team managed approximately $4.9 billion. Our clients include individual investors, institutional investors, and the high-net-worth clients of financial advisers.