Michael Binger, CFA®

President of Gradient Investments, LLC

Michael Binger, CFA®, serves as the senior portfolio manager for Gradient Investments, LLC. Michael brings over 24 years of institutional equity investment experience to Gradient. He has extensive experience working directly with financial advisors designing and actively managing portfolios. Michael has managed assets in numerous market and economic cycles giving him a level and depth of experience that is rare in this industry.

Michael started his investment career in Minneapolis with Lutheran Brotherhood in 1987 and gained experience managing assets in a variety of asset classes including convertible bonds, small cap equities and large cap equities. When Lutheran Brotherhood and Aid Association for Lutherans merged in 2001 to become Thrivent Financial, Michael was selected to work as the senior portfolio manager on the Large Cap Growth Team and Large Cap Alpha Team managing over $3 billion in assets. As the senior portfolio manager, he developed and oversaw the tactical investment strategies utilized within mutual funds, variable annuities, pension funds and insurance company products. These investment processes included proprietary portfolio construction strategies, security selection parameters and volatility controlled umbrellas.

Michael graduated from the University of Minnesota earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Finance. He graduated with honors and was the University of Minnesota’s “Wall Street Journal Award Winner.” Michael is a CFA® and a member of The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute and the Twin Cities Society of Security Analysts.

Michael’s media highlights include providing market insight on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Radio. He has also been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Smart Money, Reuters, Business Week and numerous other local, national and global investment publications.

 

Mariann Montagne, CFA®

Portfolio Management Consultant Gradient Investments, LLC

Mariann has been affiliated with Gradient Investments since 2014 and has over 30 years of investment management experience. Mariann is a CFA® charterholder and prior roles include equity analyst for an institutional fund manager and a senior analyst position for a $500M Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). She is a frequent contributor to media outlets including CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg, and Barron’s.

 

This endorsement of Gradient Investments, LLC is provided by an investment advisor who refers clients to Gradient Investments, LLC.  A conflict of interest exists because this investment advisor receives a portion of the annual management fee charged by Gradient Investments, LLC, based on the assets under management of this investment advisor’s clients. This endorsement could assist in the investment advisor increasing the assets placed with Gradient Investments, LLC, and therefore their compensation. These investment advisors are not affiliated with or supervised by Gradient Investments, LLC.