Portfolio Manager Spotlight: Tributary Capital Management

Omaha, Nebraska is famous for being the home of one of the world’s most renowned investors, Warren Buffett. Indeed, the Oracle of Omaha, as he’s known, put the city on the map in the 1980s, causing bigger and more popular financial hubs like New York City and Chicago to sit up and take notice. These days, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is a titan of the financial industry, recognized by all far and wide. But another firm just down the road in Omaha, Tributary Capital Management, remains a hidden gem. And that’s just fine by their fundamentals-focused portfolio managers. Mark Wynegar joined Tributary’s predecessor in 1999. His colleague, Mike Johnson, joined in 2005. Together, they manage the Azzad Small-Cap Value Portfolio, a strategy that has looked good in otherwise choppy markets since the beginning of the year. Both portfolio managers eschew individual accolades and attention-seeking behavior, preferring instead to ply their trade in the service of investors. The Small-Cap Value Portfolio has performed well of late, owing to Wynegar and Johnson’s time-honored practice of looking for good businesses trading at a fair price. Managing a value strategy and sticking to halal investing requirements that prohibit too much leverage or debt is not