CT Fitzpatrick Shares what Sets Value Investing Apart
RCB President Bruce Rogers with Rotarians Dr. Ray Watts and Dr. Anupam Agarwal
This week the Rotary Club of Birmingham (RCB) welcomed Rotarian C.T. Fitzpatrick, Vulcan Value Partners Founder, Chairman & CIO. He provided an overview of his background in financial services, how it shaped his investment philosophy and led to the founding of VVP in Birmingham in 2007.
C.T. shared that as the company grew and opened to outside investors, it focused on value investing and attracted investors from around the world. He expressed pride in the talented investors who have joined the team that now manages nearly $8 billion in assets for a global client base. C.T. shared how VVP fits into the larger financial services industry, assisting individuals, insurance companies, institutions, endowments, foundations and pension plans, helping clients realize their goals.
“If you’re passionate about what you do, you’re constantly thinking about it,” Fitzpatrick said. “How can I get better? How can we evolve this? You stay true to your principles, but you don’t turn those principles into rules.”
Bio for C.T. Fitzpatrick
C.T. Fitzpatrick is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Value Partners, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. C.T. Fitzpatrick founded Vulcan Value Partners in 2007. As chief investment officer, equity analyst and portfolio manager, he leads a research team responsible for investing approximately $7.9 billion for a global client base as of March 31, 2024. Prior to founding Vulcan Value Partners, C.T. worked as a principal and portfolio manager at Southeastern Asset Management. C.T. earned his MBA in Finance from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He also has a BS in Corporate Finance and a Minor in English from the University of Alabama. C.T. is a CFA Charterholder. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 1986, C.T. moved to New York City where he worked as an investment banker for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets. He met his wife, Kelley Manderson, a native of Tuscaloosa and daughter of Faye and Lewis M. Manderson Jr. for whom the University of Alabama Graduate School of Business is named.
C.T. serves on the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation Board of Directors. He has also served on the UAB Board of Visitors as well as the board of Birmingham Landmarks. He is a member of Rotary International where he has served as treasurer. C.T. is a member of the Culverhouse Board of Visitors and the President’s Cabinet at the University of Alabama, where he and Kelley also founded the C.T. and Kelley Fitzpatrick Center for Value Investing. C.T. is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) National Council, and he also co[1]founded and serves as Co-Chair of the Alabama Council of the American Enterprise Institute. Also, C.T. is a member of the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF).
C.T. actively supports academics. He speaks annually to students at Columbia Business School’s Value Investing with Legends program and has been featured on the Value Investing with Legends Podcast. He also participates in the Capstone Student Investment Conference at the University of Alabama each year and is on The Culverhouse Investment Management Group (CIMG) Advisory Board. C.T. has presented at Value Invest New York and Value Invest London.
C.T. and Kelley have been happily married for over 35 years. They have two sons, Tranum and Lewis. Tranum lives in Birmingham and is an entrepreneur working in internet marketing. His wife, Rachel, is a schoolteacher in the Mountain Brook School System. Lewis resides in New York where he works as an investment analyst at Foss and Company focused on renewable energy and sustainable technologies.