With over 26 years of investment experience, Jim Schutz joined Sterne Agee in 2003 from Stephens, Inc.’s office, where he was responsible for performing sell-side analysis of 25 different bank and thrift stocks with market capitalizations between $50 million and $2 billion. Previously, he was with ABN AMRO in Chicago, where he was responsible for sell-side analysis of 26 bank and thrifts stocks. Mr. Schutz placed fifth among all analysts (all industries) in the country in stock picking by Starmine for 2001. He also placed fifth in the Wall Street Journal 1996 All Star Analysts for earnings accuracy, and placed second in the Wall Street Journal 1997 All Star Analysts for stock picking.

Prior to becoming a securities analyst, Mr. Schutz spent eight years with Mellon Bank and four years with Westinghouse Credit Corp. He earned his BS from The University of Utah with majors in Political Science and Economics. He received an MBA in Finance from The University of Pittsburgh in 1978.