The Team

The value of Barksdale Investment Management is largely derived from a combination of extremely talented personnel, their ability to work well together, consistent and time-tested investment principles, and a common commitment to our fiduciary responsibilities. Not only is the depth and breadth of Barksdale’s judgment, knowledge and expertise important, but also the staff's collective focus on the firm's business success, investment philosophy, and to the investment strategies utilized in meeting the needs and objectives of clients. These traits and synergies enable Barksdale to withstand the trials and rigors of an ever-changing investment landscape and to identify sound investment opportunities in the financial markets. Over the years, Barksdale has enjoyed an unusually high level of stability and continuity. The success achieved in this area stems from the fact that all of our senior professionals are owners of the firm. Because of this, Barksdale Investment Management has experienced very low turnover through the years. The employees are incentivized and compensated in a manner that aligns their goals with those of the clients. This structure fosters loyalty to the firm, a friendly and efficient work environment, and dedication to the achievement of the clients' objectives. 

Ann Loden Roberts
Principal, President, Chief Executive Officer
aroberts@barksdaleim.com

Ms. Roberts is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the firm.  In addition, she is involved with new business development for all the firm’s investment products as well as monitoring client relationship efforts to ensure not only client retention but also client referrals. She has been with the firm since 2001. 

Prior to joining the firm, she was a principal for eight years at Robinson Investment Group. Ms. Roberts received her B.S. degree from Lipscomb University and her MBA, with a concentration in Finance, from the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Andrew Forsyth CFA Director of Fixed Income
aforsyth@barksdaleim.com

Mr. Forsyth leads the Fixed Income Management Team and oversees the core, core plus, intermediate, short duration, and high yield strategies. In addition, he leads the Fixed Income Investment Committee that is responsible for creating and implementing the investment team’s strategic investment process.

Prior to joining the firm, he was a fixed income portfolio manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management in New York, NY, managing US and global investment grade and high yield portfolios in retail funds and mandates from a wide variety of clients. In addition, he was the lead portfolio manager on the firm’s flagship global corporate investment grade SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) fund.  He began his career at Nisa Investment Advisors in St. Louis as a credit research analyst.  Subsequently, he served as research analyst at Moody’s Investors Service before returning to the investing side as an analyst and portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton and Itau USA Asset Management. Mr. Forsyth received his BA degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his MS from University of Notre Dame.

Charles (Chuck) H. Webb CFA
Principal, Chief Investment Officer
cwebb@barksdaleim.com

Mr. Webb is Chief Investment Officer and is responsible for the formulation of investment strategy for all institutional clients. He is a member of both the equity and fixed income management teams. His responsibilities also include economic analysis and modeling on both domestic and international financial markets. He has been with the firm since 1996.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Webb was the Chief Investment Officer for the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) that was managed in-house by Mr. Webb and his staff, and totaled over $16 billion in assets. After his departure he served as a member of the Investment Advisory Board for TCRS for several years. His experience in managing public sector fixed income assets totals over 30 years. Prior to that position, he was a senior portfolio manager with Commerce Union Bank’s (now a part of Bank of America) trust division in Nashville managing employee benefit accounts and the taxable fixed income and equity common trust fund. He has been in the industry since 1977. Mr. Webb received his B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Tennessee.

Frank G. Puryear CFA 
Principal, Chairman and Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager
fpuryear@barksdaleim.com

Mr. Puryear is a member of the Fixed Income Management Team that manages the core, core plus, intermediate, short duration, and high yield strategies. He is also responsible for yield curve and sector valuation analysis with a particular emphasis on the structured finance sector. He has been with the firm since 1996. 

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Puryear was the senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager for the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) where he and Mr. Webb managed $8.5 billion in U.S. and international bonds. Before joining TCRS, Mr. Puryear was employed by First American National Bank (now Regions Bank) in Nashville as a portfolio strategist for the capital markets group. That assignment followed his experience as manager of the bank's $1.7 billion fixed income portfolio. He has been in the industry since 1977. He received his B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Tennessee.

Nathan Grant CFA
Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager
ngrant@barksdaleim.com

Mr. Grant is a member of the Fixed Income Management Team that oversees the Short, Intermediate, Core and High Yield strategies and is responsible for IG and HY corporate sub-sector valuation analysis.

Prior to joining the firm, he was a senior fixed income portfolio manager at Hancock Whitney Bank in New Orleans, LA, managing short and intermediate IG and HY mutual funds and separate accounts. He began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette as a trading assistant on the MBS desk. Subsequently, he served as portfolio manager at Value Line Asset Management and Recon Capital, managing fixed income assets across a wide range of sectors and strategies. Mr. Grant received his BA degree from Cornell University. In addition, Mr. Grant is a past president of the CFA Society of Louisiana and is also on the board of the New Orleans Film Society.

Ellen O. Carr CFA 
Principal, Fixed Income Portfolio Manager and Senior Credit Analyst 
ecarr@barksdaleim.com

Ms. Carr is a Portfolio Manager and a fundamental research analyst for holdings in both equity and fixed income portfolios.

She specializes in the construction and management of high yield bond portfolios. Prior to joining the firm, she served as Senior Vice President and a High Yield Portfolio Manager for institutional separate accounts and mutual funds for The Capital Group Companies / American Funds in Los Angeles, CA. Along with her high yield responsibilities, Ms. Carr also managed investment grade corporate and long duration credit portfolios. She began her career as an Investment Analyst for the Fixed Income Group at Capital in 1999. In addition, Ms. Carr is an adjunct professor of finance at Columbia Business School, New York, NY. Ms. Carr received her BA degree from Harvard College and her MBA from Northwestern University.

Melissa Laffer CFA 
Equity Portfolio Manager
mlaffer@barksdaleim.com

 
Ms. Laffer is an equity portfolio manager and trades the equity holdings for the firm. She has been working alongside Mr. Webb on the creation and monitoring of the firm’s equity mandates and models. Ms. Laffer joined our firm in 2018 after an 18 year hiatus during which she raised her children and donated her time to serving her community.  Prior to that, Ms. Laffer was a vice president and economic research analyst at Laffer Associates.  Previously she was a performance analyst at Colonial Funds in Boston.

Ms. Laffer received her B.A. in Economics from the University of California at San Diego.

Stephen Zurlo CFA Fixed Income Associate Portfolio Manager szurlo@barksdaleim.com

Mr. Zurlo is a fixed income associate portfolio manager, with a focus on MBS/structured product analysis and allocation. Prior to that, Mr. Zurlo was a product analyst at AllianceBernstein, specializing in global aggregate fixed income products. In this role, Mr. Zurlo supported an $81 billion platform across the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia serving both institutional and retail clients. In 2023, Mr. Zurlo received his CFA charter.  

Sarah Lang Product Specialist slang@barksdaleim.com

Ms. Lang’s role as Product Specialist bridges investment management and client/prospect engagement. As a member of the Equity and Fixed Income Management teams, Ms. Lang focuses on investment analytics and reporting while also working alongside Ms. Roberts in business development and client service. She joined the firm in 2024.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Lang was a credit strategy specialist in the institutional capital formation group at TPG Angelo Gordon in New York, NY. She participated in fundraising efforts for distressed and corporate special situations, multi-strategy, and structured credit investment vehicles. She began her career at Goldman Sachs as an Equity Franchise Sales analyst in the Multi-Asset Product group. Ms. Lang received her B.A degree in Economics from Providence College. Ms. Lang currently sits on the junior board of the New York Center for Children and is responsible for fundraising and partnerships.

Kathy E. Carpenter 
Principal, Operations Manager
kcarpenter@barksdaleim.com

Ms. Carpenter serves as the operations manager of the firm. She is responsible for Portfolio Accounting and Reconciliation, as well as Performance Analysis. She has been with the firm since its inception in 1984. 

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Carpenter was employed by Commerce Union Bank of Nashville (now Bank of America) as a Fixed Income Portfolio Associate.

Cathy L. Chamnanphong 
Principal, Investment Operations Officer
cchamnanphong@barksdaleim.com

 
Ms. Chamnanphong is responsible for daily cash management operations, account balances and reconciliation, and trade settlement. She has been with the firm since 2002.

Prior to joining the firm, she was a Trust Officer for First American National Bank (now Regions Bank) in Nashville.  Ms. Chamnanphong received her B.S. in Finance from the University of Tennessee.

James F. Murphy, CRCP®, CSCP® 
Chief Compliance Officer

Mr. Murphy serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer.  He has over twenty years’ experience in the investment industry working with various Investment Advisors and trading firms.  Prior to working at Weaver Barksdale, Mr. Murphy worked as the Chief Compliance Officer for an institutional Broker Dealer/Investor Advisor, a multi-family office and a financial planning firm.  Before moving to Nashville, Mr. Murphy was a Specialist on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.  Mr. Murphy is active in various Compliance groups. He has earned his Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional® (CRCP®) designation from FINRA’s Institute at Wharton’s School of Business and the Certified Securities Compliance Professional® (CSCP®) designation from the National Society of Compliance Professionals. 

Mr. Murphy received his B.S. in Business Administration from Molloy College in New York.

Weaver C. Barksdale CFA
Founding Principal, Chairman Emeritus

Mr. Barksdale is responsible for strategic and financial planning for the firm. He founded the firm in 1984.

Prior to founding Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates, Inc. (WCB), Mr. Barksdale was President, Director of Fixed Income strategy, and Chief Portfolio Manager for the Fixed Income Group of Commerce Union Bank (now a part of Bank of America) in Nashville. He has been in the industry since 1973. He received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.