Raj Sharma, Principal and Director of Research Mr. Sharma  founded Polestar Research in 2005 as a compelling platform to deliver contrarian, value-driven equity research across multiple caps and industries. He brings several years of buy-side and sell-side experience in equity analysis and research. Prior to founding Polestar Research, Mr. Sharma was a Senior Managing Director of Equity Research at Merriman, Curhan, Ford & Co., an investment banking firm in San Francisco, where he covered specialty growth companies and special situations. Previously, he was also employed as Vice President at Onyx Partners, Inc., a merchant banking firm, where he was responsible for due diligence, financial analysis and turnaround management of operating companies. At previous roles at two macro hedge funds, Alpha Investment Management and Strome, Susskind and Company, Mr. Sharma was responsible for management of value-driven equity investments in the U.S., and in emerging markets around the globe. Mr. Sharma is passionate about pursuing leading, successful companies as long-term investments and is particularly interested in those companies that also excel in social responsibility. He counts Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch and Joel Greenblatt as his primary influences in the shaping of his investment philosophy.  Mr. Sharma has an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at New Delhi, India. He currently resides with his wife and two children in the South Bay.

Todd Allen Lee CFA Prior to joining Polestar, Mr. Lee was and continues to be the founder and portfolio manager of Athena Asset Management & Research, LLC. Athena is a registered investment advisor specializing in the management and analysis of high yielding fixed income and special situation equity investments. Prior to Athena, he was a securities analyst for Botti Brown Asset Management (BBAM) - a $1.5 billion market neutral hedge fund located in San Francisco, California. At BBAM, he was responsible for making high yield, distressed, and special situations equity investments for the fund.  Prior to Botti Brown, Mr. Lee was a securities analyst for Alpha Investment Management, a multi-strategy hedge fund located in Beverly Hills, California. At Alpha, he was responsible for the fund's public and private equity investments. Mr. Lee also has over 10 years of sell-side experience with Drexel Burnham Lambert, Bear Stearns & Co., and CS First Boston.  He graduated from Arizona State University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. In addition, he is a Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of both the CFA Institute and the San Francisco Society of Security Analysts.

Samantha Hastings, Research Coordinator Ms. Hastings is responsible for managing and coordinating the research process. She also contributes her valuable insights of the retail industry to the research process. Prior to joining Polestar, Ms. Hastings participated in the Executive Training Program at Robinsons May department stores, where she became an Assistant Buyer, gaining experience in the retail industry consisting of trend evaluation, financial planning, and business analysis. She also has expertise in the vendor side of the retail industry, in particular assessment of trends, market needs, and areas of potential opportunity. Ms. Hastings graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of California, Berkeley. She is an avid Cal football fan.