Dr Phil McGraw: Psychology, Health and Legal Counselor

Dr Phil McGraw is one of the more popular talk show hosts in the US. He was known as a regular guest in The Oprah Winfrey show before he hosted his own TV program, the Dr Phil Show. In his show, McGraw covers all subjects in human psychology, health issues, and even legal issues. His regular patrons include families and couples.

McGraw was born Phillip Calvin McGraw in his native hometown Vinita, Oklahoma on September 1, 1950. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the Midwestern State University in 1975. He took his master’s in experimental psychology and doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of North Texas.

McGraw established the Courtroom Sciences Inc.® (CSI®) in 1980. The firm was the consultant of several Fortune 500 companies, especially in legal issues that involve jury level researches. CSI offers community polling, focus groups, mock trials, private trials and several others.

Spotlight on a Finance Professional: Marco Bitran of AI Exchange, Inc.

A Harvard Business School (HBS) alumnus with nearly 15 years of professional experience, Marco Bitran currently devotes the bulk of his time and energy toward his duties as Chief Executive Officer of AI Exchange, Inc., a technology-driven hedge fund he co-founded in 2011. Utilizing an innovative separately managed account platform, Mr. Bitran and his colleagues secured $1.5 million in venture funding from LaunchCapital, Common Angels, General Catalyst, and Founder Collective to develop AI Exchange’s unique company model. With the patent-pending disruptive technology created by Mr. Bitran created, the firm offers wealth advisors a multifaceted portfolio of alternative investment strategies designed to produce optimal rates of return.

Playing a key role in the enterprise’s early success, Marco Bitran handpicked his team from a pool of highly qualified candidates, bringing in a Senior Sales Executive from industry leader Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. to facilitate a seamless first years of operations. Opting to base AI Exchange in Boston, Massachusetts, a hotbed of commerce recognized as one of the world’s major finance hubs, Mr. Bitran looks forward to a bright future for this exciting new endeavor that bookends his productive five-year tenure at Clearstream Investments, LLC.

Marco Bitran served as a Portfolio Manager at Clearstream Investments from 2006 to 2011, growing the firm’s assets to $550 million despite the stubbornly unpredictable economic climate that has plagued U.S. and global markets in the recent past. As the Founder of this quantitative exchange-traded fund (ETF), Mr. Bitran enlisted the help of two close affiliates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), leveraging the fund model they designed to solidify Clearstream’s prime position in the notably competitive ETF sphere.

Prior to his achievements at the helm of Clearstream Investments and AI Exchange, Marco Bitran applied his skills as a Section-Fund Manager and Global Industry Analyst at the Wellington Management Company in Boston. In addition to his Harvard Business School M.B.A., Mr. Bitran holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Economics from MIT.  

How Suze Orman Used her Investment Misfortunes to Become One of the Most Successful Stock Brokers

Susan Lynn Orman is a TV personality, financial advisor and personal finance author. She has inspired thousands of people with her speeches both on and off cam on the subject of banking, investments and credit. She has a large following because her own success in her investments speaks volumes of about the credibility of her financial strategies.

Orman, more popularly known as Suze, was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 5, 1951. She had difficulty forming words that’s why her reading and writing were challenged as a young girl. Despite her struggles, she finished her high school and was accepted at the University of Illinois. She was able to pay her school bills out of her salary as a dishwasher at the school cafeteria.

Unable to finish her degree in social work, Orman and some friends moved to Berkeley, California in 1973. She finished her degree in Spanish at Hayward State University while working as a waitress at the Buttercup Bakery.

While at the Bakery, Orman dreamt of owning a restaurant. She applied for a loan of $50,000 from a sympathetic customer. She hired the brokerage firm Merrill Lynch to take care of her investments. However, her broker invested her money in a falling market. Within three months, Orman was broke.

She knew it would be impossible to pay the loan. So she worked with Merrill Lynch as a stock broker. Soon, she sued her own employer for the lost $50,000. Because of the lawsuit, Merrill Lynch could not fire her. While working at Merrill Lynch, Orman became successful as a stock broker.

In 1983, Orman left Merrill Lynch to work with Prudential Bache Securities as Vice President of Investments. After 4 years, she resigned from Prudential to open the Suze Orman Financial Group. She was her own firm’s Director until 1997 when she shifted her focus on her speaking and writing career.

Orman’s books were bestsellers. Some of her known books include The Road to Wealth, The Courage to be Rich, and The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. She had a weekly TV show with QVC entitled Suze Orman’s Financial Freedom and another with CNBC entitled The Suze Orman Show.

Noel Whittaker: Arguably the Most Influential Personal Finance Guru in Australia

Noel Whittaker is a personal finance author, money columnist, financial planner and public speaker. He authored the bestselling book “Making Money Made Easy” which made thousands of Australians to make money making an interesting topic.

Whittaker began his career with the Australian Westpac bank where he served for ten years in international banking. He also had three years of experience working in a law firm, two years as accountant of a publicly traded property company and two years with Beneficial Finance.

But Whittaker’s greatest influence was through his book “Making Money Made Simple” which guided thousands of people in financial decisions. The book covered personal finance topics as retirement planning, taxes, and investing.

Whittaker also maintains his columns in the Perth Sunday Times, the Brisbane Courier Mail, the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald which covers finance topics. His weekly radio program is heard in over fifty stations.

Whittaker along with a fellow financial guru Cheryl Macnaught created the Whittaker Macnaught, a financial planning company, in 1982. It is the largest financial planning company in Australia.

Inalink: Creating Member Awareness and Association Viability

The member relations specialists at Inalink provide associations in the scientific, medical engineering, and financial services sectors with focused telephone-based liaison programs. The firm’s aims go beyond expanding member participation, involving a strengthening of fundamental brand value. Inalink’s targeted member communications focus on quality, personalized, engagement, rather than intrusive sales pitches and faked interest.

Inalink’s value proposition hinges on the reality that most associations maintain limited staffs that do not have the resources to conduct member relationship building in the most effective way possible. In addition, association personnel often do not feel comfortable in reaching out to members, equating personal contact with “telemarketing.” Having resisted making the call themselves, they feel unsure of how to best respond to members’ pointed questions and resistance. Inalik moves beyond these “hit or miss” efforts that can actually harm an association’s image.

Inalink takes a highly collaborative approach, combining associations’ industry expertise with their own specialized knowledge as member-communication professionals. Inalink associates proactively reach out to members, bringing their participation back to the forefront through informed conversation employing industry-appropriate language. Rather than pressing information on unwilling listeners, Inalink professionals engage members in ways that create insight, interest, and value.

Inalik takes particular pride in recovering lapsed members, typically bringing 30 to 70 percent of contacted members back into the fold. This results in significant increases in revenue, also helping ensure the longterm health of associations that are only as strong as the members who support them and form their base.

Lakshmi Mittal is Man of Steel

Lakshmi Mittal is one of the richest men in the world, according to Forbes Magazine. Mittal is a British who was born in India. He is the CEO and Chairman of the Mittal Steel Company.

Mittal is born Lakshmi Narayan Mittal. He is also known as Lakshmi Niwas Mittal. He was born in 1950 in Rajasthan, India. He finished his degree in Bachelor of Commerce at St. Xavier College in Calcutta.

His fortune as a steel baron started in their family’s steel company in India. With more than 30 years of experience in steel works and other allied industries, Mittal established the Mittal Steel in 1976. Mittal Steel has a global impact and operates in 14 countries.

Mittal was the first to use Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) as scrap substitute for producing steel. He was responsible for consolidating the process of the steel industry. With average annual shipments of 42 million tons of steel and average annual profits of $22 billion, Mittal Steel is the biggest steel maker in the world.

Some of Mittal’s awards included the “European Businessman of the Year (2004)” which was given by the Fortune magazine; “Steelmaker of the Year (1996)” given by New Steel, as well as the “Willy Korf Steel Vision Award (1998) by the American Metal Market and PaineWeber’s World Steel Dynamics.

Mittal has one of the most expensive houses in the UK. His house in Kensington was purchased in 2003 for $128 million.

Mittal is also a member of several trusts like the Executive Committee of the International Iron and Steel Institute, the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, South Africa’s International Investment Council, and Kazakhstan’s Foreign Investment Council.

Some companies with which Mittal has an influence included Kellogg School of Management where he sits as member of the Advisory Board, and the ICICI Bank Limited where he is a Director.

Mittal is also active in many charitable and philanthropic works.

Jim Rohn: Modern Day Will Rogers

For over 40 years as business coach and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn has influenced countless of people by conducting seminars to individuals and companies. His teachings are published in books that cover diverse subjects including motivation, customer relations, self-development, business skills and leadership.

According to people touched by Rohn’s life, he is one person that needs to be experienced, not described. His message combined with his personal style, are doing wonders in people which cannot otherwise be captured by any published materials. There is an exceptional power behind those words that enable his audience to learn and feel. His live seminars and audio and video presentations offer extraordinary emotional journeys that boost self-confidence, awaken the will power to succeed, and enhance attitude that intensifies desire to reach personal goals.

Rohn has won the National Speakers Association’s CPAE Award in 1985.  He was the author of 17 books and video and audio programs. He is known in the corporate world as the modern day Will Rogers.