Equity Team

Mr. McQuiddy is a Principal of Sawgrass and serves as CIO. Mr. McQuiddy directs the firm’s equity management and research efforts and is the lead portfolio manager for the Diversified Small Growth equity product. He serves on several of the firm’s committees, including equity research, management and strategic planning.

Prior to Sawgrass, he spent 15 years with Barnett Capital Advisors, Inc., solely responsible for creating the firm’s small growth product in January of 1987.

His educational accomplishments include a B.S. in Finance from the University of Florida and earning the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from The CFA Institute (formerly AIMR), of which he is also a member.

Mr. LaPrade is a Partner at Sawgrass and the lead portfolio manager for the firm’s Diversified Large Growth Equity product. He is responsible for merging quantitative equity models with specific security selection. He serves on several of the firm’s committees, including equity research, management and strategic planning.

Prior to Sawgrass, he spent nearly 20 years with Barnett Capital Advisors, Inc., as an equity portfolio manager and an integral part of the institutional investment team and research committee.

His educational accomplishments include a B.S. from Furman University, earning a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from The CFA Institute (formerly AIMR), of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Jacksonville Financial Analysts Society.

Mr. Brooks is an Equity Portfolio Manager at Sawgrass, primarily managing the Diversified Large Growth equity product.  He is responsible for portfolio construction, quantitative analysis, and fundamental research.  He serves on several of the firm’s committees, including equity research and strategic planning. Prior experience includes managing $500 million in risk reduction equity strategies at Waycross Partners, recommending asset allocation at Prudential Insurance, and performing sector research at Cornucopia Wealth Management.

His educational accomplishments include an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from the University of North Florida and a B.S. in Finance from Florida State University

Mr. Gila is CO-CIO, Portfolio Manager at Sawgrass. He is a CO-Manager of various Equity and Fixed Income strategies. He is responsible for portfolio construction and fundamental research of the entire capital structure. He serves on several of the firm’s committees, including Executive and strategic planning, equity research, and fixed income. Before Sawgrass, he worked with Fidelity National Financial as a fixed-income analyst, helping manage fixed-income investments of over $3 billion.

His educational accomplishments include an M.B.A. and B.A. in Finance from the University of North Florida and earning a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from The CFA Institute (formerly AIMR), of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Jacksonville Financial Analysts Society.

Mr. Davis is an Equity Portfolio Manager at Sawgrass, responsible for quantitative and fundamental research, portfolio positioning, idea generation, and quantitative modeling.  He serves as a co-manager on the Diversified Large Growth product and Lead Portfolio Manager (since November 2017) of the Focused Growth product.  Prior to Sawgrass, he worked with the Charles Schwab Corporation and the Vanguard Group.  His educational accomplishments include an M.B.A. in Finance from Wake Forest University as a Dean’s Scholarship Full-Tuition Recipient and a B.A. in Economics from Wake Forest University, where he was awarded a four-year full scholarship for cross country and track.  Mr. Davis has also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from The CFA Institute (formerly AIMR), of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Jacksonville Financial Analysts Society.

Mr. Riley is a Partner at Sawgrass and the lead portfolio manager on the firm’s Genesis Small Growth Equity product. He is responsible for generating new ideas for both the small and large growth equity portfolios by managing a new ideas “on-deck” portfolio specific to each product, as well as assisting in the maintenance of the firm’s proprietary quantitative modeling system. He serves on the firm’s equity research committee. Prior to Sawgrass, he spent seven years with Barnett Capital Advisors, Inc. as a senior analyst and assistant portfolio manager for the small growth equity product.

His educational accomplishments include a M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from Auburn University, a B.B.A. with a major in Marketing from Marshall University, and earning the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Jacksonville Financial Analysts Society.

Mr. Creighton is an Equity Portfolio Manager at Sawgrass and the lead portfolio manager for the firm’s Large Cap Value and Core Equity products. He is responsible for quantitative and fundamental research and serves on the firm’s equity research committee. Prior to Sawgrass, he spent nine years at St. Johns Investment Management Company and 17 years at Barnett Capital Advisors, Inc. where he served as an equity portfolio manager.

His educational accomplishments include a B.S. from Stetson University, a M.B.A. from the University of North Florida and earning a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from The CFA Institute (formerly AIMR), of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Jacksonville Financial Analysts Society.