James A. Walden

James A. Walden

"Earlier in his career, he was associated with Phillips Appel & Walden Inc. for more than 24 years, beginning as a registered representative and eventually becoming the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. During his tenure there, Mr. Walden expanded the firm from six employees to over 1,000 employees in six separate offices, making the firm the largest non-clearing member firm of the New York Stock Exchange. At various times, Mr. Walden headed the underwriting department, which brought more than 40 companies public; the syndications department which organized the firm's participation in thousands of underwritings; and the retail brokerage department which grew under his direction from 10 salespeople to more than 600. In 1982 he engineered the sale of Phillips Appel & Walden to a firm associated with Merrill Lynch & Co. In 1987, he founded The Walden Group."