Third Avenue Funds

David M. Barse, President and Chief Executive Officer

 

During two decades under Mr. Barse’s leadership, Third Avenue has grown from a one fund boutique into a multi-platform asset manager with value-driven strategies devoted to global stocks, real estate, small caps and credit. Third Avenue offers alternative investment vehicles, separately managed accounts, subadvised portfolios, UCITS and mutual funds to private and institutional clients. Mr. Barse’s strategic business development plan fostered Third Avenue’s growth in assets under management to $16 billion (as of December 31, 2009).

Prior to joining Third Avenue in 1991, Mr. Barse had a distinguished career in bankruptcy and corporate law.  At the creditors’ rights firm of Zalkin Rodin & Goodman LLP he primarily represented commercial banks in the workouts of non-performing loans and the financing of companies in Chapter 11 through debtor-in-possession loans. Later at Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn & Berman LLP, he pioneered the development of the secondary market for distressed debt.

One of Mr. Barse’s clients was Third Avenue founder, Marty Whitman who managed money through his eponymous broker-dealer. Though Mr. Barse’s legal career was on a fast track Mr. Whitman’s enthusiasm for investing infected him and joined Mr. Whitman’s broker-dealer, making the switch from attorney to apprentice. He soon became a top producer as he and Mr. Whitman developed a plan to enter the asset management business through mutual funds and separately managed accounts. Mr. Barse became CEO soon after.

During the 1990s, Mr. Whitman and Mr. Barse worked on many successful distressed investments. However, starting in the late 1990s it became clear that passive investing in the common stocks of well-capitalized companies was a far more advantageous strategy as there was a dearth of distressed opportunities at that time.  Over the years, Mr. Whitman and Mr. Barse participated in numerous distressed investments, including Kmart, USG, Covanta Energy and Collins and Aikman. In each case, Third Avenue either controlled or had elements of control in the reorganization of the company. Mr. Barse currently serves on the board of Covanta Holdings Corporation, a market leader in energy from waste technology.

Mr. Barse has been a member of the World Economic Forum since 2008. He is frequently sought after by the financial media, including CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week and Bloomberg where he has spoken about Third Avenue’s bottom-up value investing approach in the context of broad economic themes and current events as well as the re-emergence of distressed investment opportunities as a result of the economic crisis that emerged in 2008.

Mr. Barse received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and a B.A. from George Washington University. He is a member of the Brooklyn Law School Board of Trustees and sits on the Board of Directors of the City Parks Foundation.

Vincent J. Dugan, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Dugan is a member of Third Avenue's Management Committee and a senior member of the firm's Risk Committee. He oversees all of Third Avenue's accounting and operations and is responsible for the integrity of the firm's financial reporting. He joined Third Avenue in 2004 from Ernst & Young's Financial Services Office where he was a partner auditing and advising clients in the financial services industry. He was also a partner with Arthur Andersen where he worked for 15 years.

Mr. Dugan has a B.S. in Accounting from Rider University. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is Treasurer and a Trustee of the Staten Island Academy, an independent college preparatory school.

W. James Hall, General Counsel and Secretary

Mr. Hall is General Counsel and Secretary for both Third Avenue Management and M.J. Whitman where he oversees the two legal and compliance departments. Mr. Hall joined Third Avenue in 2000 after time as an associate at the law firms of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Mr. Hall received a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania School of Law. He received a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.