Charles Miller
Executive Vice President – Director of Capital Development
Mr. Miller brings to CEC a vast background in developing and articulating compelling
investment strategies that sophisticated investors can understand and utilize. He
acts as the firm’s spokesperson and communicates the firm’s investment strategy
on biofuels and alternative energy. He focuses primarily on the institutional investor
community, consultants, private equity and venture capital firms. Mr. Miller also
provides a strategic view of the likely evolution of the clean energy industry as
well as identifiable and fundamentally undervalued sectors.
Mr. Miller has 35 years of experience in the investment business, including senior
executive responsibility with Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch Capital
Markets and William Blair & Company. He began his career in international finance
with Getty Oil Company.
At Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Mr. Miller was responsible for Fortune 500 relationships
with ARCO, Toyota, Litton Industries, Lockheed Martin, Southern California Edison,
Mitsubishi, Fluor, MCA, Rio Tinto Zinc, U.S. Borax and other major West Coast-based
firms. While at Merrill Lynch he was responsible for a number of significant transactions
averaging in excess of several billion dollars. Mr. Miller ran the West Coast Corporate
Financial Services Sales Desk, where he and his team were responsible for all major
fixed income sales to the Fortune 500 corporations located in Southern California.
This included money market commercial paper, medium term fixed and floating rate
notes, money market preferred and overnight and term repo transaction in addition
to Government Treasuries and Corporate Fixed Income instruments and High Yield Corporate
Debt. Average daily transaction often ran in excess of $500 million. While at Merrill
Lynch Capital Markets, he was also one of the firm’s major sales professionals of
leveraged buyout structures. As Director and partner at TSA Capital Management,
Mr. Miller was responsible for creating the firms International CTA and Hedge Fund
Business.
At Credit Suisse First Boston he advised across a wide spectrum of investment issues
for major corporate and public pension funds, endowment and foundations, including
Hughes Aircraft, Fluor and California Public Employees Retirement Fund. Mr. Miller
acted as the relationship manager for major investment consulting firms including
Wilshire Associates, Callan Associates and Strategic Evaluation Associates. Mr.
Miller was responsible for client relationship in excess of $15 billion.
Additionally at Credit Suisse First Boston, Mr. Miller co-founded the firm’s investment
managed accounts business with major broker dealer distribution firms including
Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch. This business effort ultimately encompassed assets
in excess of $5 billion primarily invested in international and emerging equity
markets.
His expertise in international finance includes responsibilities for oil exportation
and development planning in the Middle East, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and
the Partitioned Neutral Zone. He has been responsible for formulating business strategies
for these regions for Getty Oil.
Over the last 27 years Mr. Miller has developed a comprehensive understanding and
advised institutional clients across a variety of asset classes, including global
and domestic tactical asset allocation, leveraged buyouts, currency management,
venture capital, hedge funds, and private equity transactions. Additionally he has
an extensive background in traditional asset classes, including international and
domestic equities, derivatives as well as taxable high yield and investment grade
fixed income.
In his assignments with various clients, his experience has been utilized to guide
multiple billion dollar decisions with regard to broad investment issues including;
asset allocation, manager selection, portfolio diversification and analysis of active
versus passive investment vehicles and hedging.
Mr. Miller also was a consultant to corporate pension funds, public pension funds,
endowments and foundations including Atlantic Richfield Oil Company, The National
Air Line Pilots Association and San Diego Public Employees Pension Fund. Additionally,
he has worked with a number of domestic and international high net worth clients
and their advisors. Prior to that, he created the Pacific Horizon Family of Funds
for Security Pacific Bank as well as their discount brokerage business.
While at Security Pacific bank he reported directly to the Comptroller of the bank.
He was responsible for evaluating and recommending major capital expenditures for
new and existing business at both the bank and holding company level to the executive
committee of the bank. Additionally Mr. Miller co- created the banks financial services
product management department. In his role with product management he was responsible
for evaluating, recommending and creating a number of businesses that made major
contribution to the banks bottom line profitability. He was provided recommendations
for restructuring the bank’s capital budgeting planning and monitoring function.
Mr. Miller also held the role of head of strategic planning for the bank where he
drove the strategic decision process for the organization.
Mr. Miller has also been a frequent resource for institutional investors with regard
to behavioral economics, behavioral finance, prospect theory, inter-temporal choice,
heuristics, framing and cognitive biases
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from The University of
Southern California (USC) and a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) from Loyola University.
He is a former member of the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts and The Los
Angeles Bond Club.
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