Team

First Wilshire has attracted and retained talented individuals with diverse experience. The average tenure of our staff is 16 years, and the average tenure for our Portfolio Managers is 23 years. All Portfolio Managers are both Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) professionals. The common thread among our staff is a passion for value investing and a commitment to providing exceptional client service.

Howard Lu, CFA®, CFP®

President & CEO
Portfolio Manager

Scott Hood, CFA®, CFP®

Chairman
Portfolio Manager

Bill Caton, CFA®, CFP®

Head of Trading
Portfolio Manager

Feliks Zlochistyy, CFA®, CFP®, CPA

Portfolio Manager

Nicole Green

Chief Operating Officer
Chief Compliance Officer

Thomas Hanson

Senior Vice President

Esther Johnson

Client Services Director

Cristian Pedroza

Trader

Katya Shaposhnik

Operations Assistant

Celebrating 45 Years of Disciplined Value Investing

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First Wilshire has been serving high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors since 1977. Guided by the value investing philosophy, we seek to identify companies with great prospects at an attractive price.

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Howard Lu, CFA®, CFP®

President & CEO
Portfolio Manager

Howard joined First Wilshire in 2004 as a research analyst, was promoted to Portfolio Manager in 2013, and became President and CEO in 2019. Prior to joining First Wilshire, he worked as an engineer for Intel Corporation and two technology startups in Silicon Valley. Howard is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and a member of the CFA Institute. He is also a CFP® professional. Howard received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Howard is fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese.

Scott Hood, CFA®, CFP®

Chairman
Portfolio Manager

Scott joined First Wilshire as an analyst in 1993, was promoted to CEO in 2001, and became Chairman in 2019. Previously he worked as a supervisory analyst with Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. Scott is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and a member of the CFA Institute. He is also a CFP® professional. He serves as a board member of The Mount Wilson Observatory and The Sierra Madre Mountain Conservancy. Scott holds a Bachelor of Science from The Stern School of Business at New York University. 

Bill Caton, CFA®, CFP®

Head of Trading
Portfolio Manager

Bill joined First Wilshire’s internship program in 1997 and became a research analyst in 1998. He was promoted to Portfolio Manager and Head of Trading in 2019. Bill is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and a member of the CFA Institute. He is also a CFP® professional. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a specialization in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Feliks Zlochistyy, CFA®, CFP®, CPA

Portfolio Manager

Feliks joined First Wilshire in 2006 as a research analyst and was promoted to Portfolio Manager in 2023. He received a 5-year degree in Russian Literature and Language from Samara State University in Russia and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Southern California. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and a member of the CFA Institute. He is also a CFP® professional and a CPA. Feliks is fluent in Russian.

Nicole Green

Chief Operating Officer
Chief Compliance Officer

Nicole joined First Wilshire as Vice President of Administration in 2017, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2018, and was designated as Chief Compliance Officer in 2020. Prior to joining First Wilshire, Nicole was a principal and head of investment operations at Ares Management. She is skilled in building and leading global operations teams, continuously improving productivity and efficiency, and mitigating risks. Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The George Washington University.

Thomas Hanson

Senior Vice President

Tom joined First Wilshire as Chief Operating Officer in 2010 and transitioned to Senior Vice President in 2018. He provides investment management to a select group of clients. Previously, Tom was a senior officer and Portfolio Manager at Pacific Global Investment Management. He founded TriVest Capital Management, an investment advisory firm serving institutional clients. Tom holds a Bachelor degree from Marshall University and an MBA from The George Washington University.

Esther Johnson

Client Services Director

Esther joined First Wilshire in 2006 as a Client Service Associate and was promoted to Client Services Director in 2015. Prior to First Wilshire, she worked at Roger Engemann & Associates, an advisory firm. She received a Bachelor of Arts from California State University at Los Angeles. Esther is fluent in Spanish.

Cristian Pedroza

Trader

Cristian joined First Wilshire in 2017 as a trader. He is responsible for trade execution and works cross-functionally with the investment team, client services, and operations. Cristian began his career in 2009 at Churchill Management Group and Lombardia Capital. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a Finance concentration from California State University at Fullerton. Cristian is fluent in Spanish.

Katya Shaposhnik

Operations Assistant

Katya joined First Wilshire in 2013. She has over 20 years of office management and administrative experience in both the public and private sectors. In addition, she was a co-founder of a local non-profit art center. Katya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from New York University. Katya is conversant in Russian, Hungarian and Hebrew.