About

Joe Mertes received an undergraduate BS degree in Political Science from Belmont Abbey College and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Wake Forest University. He began his career in private equity, building a venture capital firm that specialized in the analysis, structure and acquisition of various business entities. Capital formation, strategic business planning and control functions were key areas of responsibility. From venture capital Joe moved into working with troubled businesses through the restructure of balance sheets and capital formation. In each of these ventures he derived strategic plans based on an understanding of the development of various markets.

In 1987 Joe concentrated on investing, trading techniques and money management. Over the last twenty years he has managed significant accounts for investors, and consulted with notable funds. Currently he is responsible for the training and education of individual investors globally. Joe has assisted traders, investors and institutions on the importance of establishing a business approach to the trading arena. He is currently chief investment officer of a small hedge fund, consultant, educator and author.

Utilizing and stressing a methodology that is structured on information that derives directly from the markets, Joe has experienced considerable success helping others understand the importance of executing a strategic, well managed approach to trading and investing. Understanding price development and the structure of that development gives a trader or investor an edge because it derives its analysis from information that comes directly from the markets and does not rely on lagging averages or indicators. Joe’s work on this subject has appeared in several publications and he is currently working on a book that will help traders and investors to a better understanding of the strategic and tactical advantages of understanding market development and market structure.

Joe is currently the author of The Markets in Development Newsletter, The Daily Briefing, and is the author of a home study course for individual traders and investors.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Dan has founded both for-profit and non-profit organizations. He co-founded IW Financial, a leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research and analytics firm. Dan helped develop IW Financial’s ratings system and user interface and co-authored two patents involving user defined ratings systems.  He also worked extensively with IW Financial clients in developing ESG methodologies for investment strategies, policy statements, and product development. IW Financial was acquired by Institutional Shareholder Services in January 2017.

Prior to co-founding IW Financial, Dan spent more than 20 years in the education and communications fields. He co-founded KIDS Consortium, which developed a nationally recognized model for service learning. Dan also founded and served for more than 10 years as President at the Center for Educational Media, a boutique communications firm that served clients such as PBS, the Houghton Mifflin Company, and the U.S. EPA.