For release:  October 4, 2012

 

Staley Cates is President and Chief Investment Officer of Southeastern Asset Management, based in Memphis, TN. Southeastern manages over $30 billion in equities for endowment, foundation, and pension accounts and is the Advisor to the Longleaf Partners mutual fund family. Cates and co-manager Mason Hawkins were named Morningstar Equity Managers of the Year in 2006 and were nominees for the same in 2003 and 2009. The Longleaf Partners Fund was on the Forbes Honor Roll in 2000, 2001, and 2002. In 1998 Money magazine called Longleaf “The Best Mutual Fund Family in America.” Southeastern/Longleaf and its approach were featured in Chapter 10 of Yale endowment legend David Swensen’s book, “Unconventional Success.”

 

Born and raised in Memphis, Cates attended the University of Texas and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has been with Southeastern since 1986. He and his wife Elizabeth have two children.

 

Cates is Co-Founder of New Hope Christian Academy, founding Board member of Soulsville, Urban Youth Initiative and  Memphis Athletic Ministries. He is Board President of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation. In 2007 the Grizzlies Charitable Foundation won the Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy, given by the Sports Philanthropy Project and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This year the Foundation was nominated for Beyond Sport Awards’ Sport Team of the Year globally.

 

He also serves on the Boards of the Soulsville Foundation and the Poplar Foundation. The Poplar Foundation has been involved in various private and charter school efforts in Memphis as well as supporting the Memphis placement regions of Teach For America and New Leaders for New Schools. The Poplar Foundation has also supported Jubilee Schools, the Memphis Teacher Residency, and Teacher Effectiveness Initiative.