Interview  |  MAR 1995

Interview: John Sosnowy of SIMCO by Thom Hartle

Interview: John Sosnowy of SIMCO by Thom Hartle There seems to be a connection between engineering and investing. Like Jack Hutson, the publisher of Stocks & Commodities, John Sosnowy of the Sosnowy Investment Management Co. (SIMCO), Cameron, TX, was an engineer before he turned to the world of finance. He changed careers in 1969, leaving the engineering field to work as a stockbroker for a major brokerage firm before starting up his own investment advisory concern in 1984. We interviewed John Sosnowy, covering the concept of tactical asset allocation, how to design a market model and what indicators to use, the funds he particularly likes, determining the amount of risk an investor is most comfortable with and the secret to making a profit in the market. Q: How did your career as a money manager begin? A: Well, I didn't start out in money management. After I finished graduate school, I went to work for Union Carbide as an engineer. I was interested in investing my own money, so I joined an investment club. When you join a club made up of a bunch of engineers, you can imagine the different things we looked at to try to build a better mousetrap! That was my first exposure to investing. Q: Did you stay in engineering very long? A: No. After a few years as an engineer, I became more and more interested in the markets and investing. Simultaneously, I reached a point as an engineer that to advance within the company, I would have had to relocate to New York City. Q: But that didn't appeal to you? A: No, I wasn't very excited about the prospect! So I started looking for an alternative. About that time, I realized how much I was interested in investing, so it was then that I decided to change careers.

by Thom Hartle