Team

David Knall’s reputation as a financial advisor to families of substantial wealth is founded in over 50 years of immersion in the science and art of investment. David mentors a team of 32 professionals who, following his example, embrace a philosophy of extreme curiosity, delving into analysis and venturing to leave no stone unturned in the search for the top money managers and investment opportunities for client families. First and foremost investors, David Knall and his team travel the world and have built a remarkable global network of money managers.

David’s lifelong passion for managing his clients’ wealth began at Indiana University, where he studied with an academic scholarship and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in finance in 1966. He served as an officer in the Vietnam-era U.S. Army and was head of the casualty branch at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, responsible for providing assistance to Indiana and Michigan families of fallen soldiers.

In 1969, David Knall joined McDonald & Company. One of the youngest people to be elected a general partner in the firm, he also was appointed to the Board of the parent company, McDonald & Company Securities. David remained with the firm until 2005, when he became a managing director at Stifel.

Throughout his career, David has shared his expertise with a diverse group of nonprofit organizations. He is a member of the Board and of the Investment Committee at the Regenstrief Foundation, and also serves on the Investment Committee of the Central Indiana Community Foundation. He previously served on the boards and as chair of the investment committees at Christian Theological Seminary and the Indianapolis Public Library, and on the investment committees of both the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now Newfields) and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

As a partner of The Knall/Cohen/Pence Group at Stifel, Jeff assists families, foundations, and endowments in managing their wealth by designing customized wealth management strategies tailored to their unique needs.

Prior to joining the group, Jeff was a partner with one of Indiana’s largest law firms, representing individuals and private and public companies. In 1997, Jeff joined David Knall at what was formerly known as McDonald & Company Investments. The duo later started The Knall/Cohen Group within Stifel’s Indianapolis branch.

Jeff attended Indiana University on a tennis scholarship and was a four-year letter winner for the men’s varsity team. He earned a bachelor of science in business administration and doctorate of jurisprudence. He also holds Series 7, 31, 63, and 65 securities licenses.

Jeff was on the Board of Trustees for Indiana University, where he served as chairman for its Finance and Audit Committee. He also served as a board member for the Trust of Park Tudor School, the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library Foundation, and VEI, a for-profit subsidiary of Community Hospital.

Jeff is also a past member of the American, Indiana, and Indianapolis Bar Associations and was an appointee of the Marion County Judicial Nominating Committee.

Jamie, a partner in The Knall/Cohen/Pence Group, works with many of the group’s largest clients to help manage and attempt to grow their investment assets. Jamie travels across the U.S. and internationally, meeting with clients and money managers to help bring fresh ideas to the group's clients. Jamie works with many entrepreneurs, assisting with exit planning and putting newly liquid assets to work for entrepreneurs and their families.

Prior to joining what is now The Knall/Cohen/Pence Group in 2004, Jamie worked in San Francisco with the global financial services firm Lehman Brothers, where he developed his interest and expertise in analyzing and building relationships with money managers.

Jamie received his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Colorado and a master’s in business administration from the University of Chicago. He served as a member of the board of directors of Bright Media, which was later acquired by LinkedIn.

Jamie serves on the Board of Trustees of the Park Tudor Trust, an organization supporting charitable, scientific, and educational activities.

Thomas Pence joined The Knall/Cohen/Pence Group of Stifel in October 2016. He works with the partners, consulting with clients with a focus on portfolio management. Prior to joining Stifel, Tom was the founder, team leader, and senior portfolio manager of a 20-person Fundamental Growth Equity team at Wells Fargo Asset Management. In addition to leading the team’s research effort, Tom had oversight and portfolio management responsibility for $18 billion in institutional growth accounts and retail mutual funds. Products managed by Tom included growth funds focused on large, mid-sized, and small-capitalization growth companies in the U.S. and also a global fund focused on growth companies in all major markets worldwide.

Prior to joining Wells in 2005, Tom led an equity growth team at Strong Capital Management in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he also managed four growth mutual funds and related separate accounts for institutions. Prior to joining Strong in 2000, Tom was the chief investment officer for Conseco Capital Management, where he managed the firm’s first internally managed equity product and grew that business to over $1 billion. He helped oversee the launch of the firm’s first equity mutual funds, which he also managed.

In his nearly 30-year investment career, Tom has often spoken about growth opportunities and the equity markets in general in major industry forums and in the popular press. He presently serves on the Investment Committee for the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now Newfields). Tom is a past chairman of the Investment Committee for Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School and also served as a director of the Indianapolis Society of Financial Analysts. Tom holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Mike joined The Knall/Cohen Group in June 2006 to lead the consulting practice, and he was promoted to a partner in the group in January 2011. Previously, Mike worked in Anthem’s investment department, which had management oversight on approximately $20 billion of investments. Before joining Anthem in 2000, Mike held various finance and accounting positions at Price Waterhouse, Conseco, and GE Capital. He received his bachelor of science in accounting from Indiana University in 1990 and was awarded the CPA designation in 1993 and the CFA charter in 1997.

Mike is a member of the CFA Society of Indianapolis and the CFA Institute. He also is a board member for Aspire Indiana, Inc. and the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.

While at Indiana University, Mike was a student manager for the men’s basketball team for four years, including for the 1987 national championship team.

Mike joined The Knall/Cohen Group in March 2012. He works with clients to understand their goals and objectives, and then he develops and implements customized investment strategies to assist in mitigating risk to and growing their assets.

He graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor of science in business in 1992. After graduating, Mike began his career with Heartland Capital Management, a boutique large cap investment manager, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He joined the firm as an equity research analyst and became a member of the firm’s Investment Committee, which was responsible for managing over $1 billion in large cap equities. Mike later assumed responsibility for managing the firm’s taxable and tax-exempt bond portfolios.

In 2004, he joined J.P. Morgan as a senior portfolio manager. At J.P. Morgan, he managed equity and fixed income portfolios for individual clients and foundations and endowments. He also guided clients on asset allocation, manager selection, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate investments. In 2008, he was promoted to managing director.

He was awarded the CFA charter in 1995 and is a member of the CFA Institute and a former board member of the CFA Society of Indianapolis.

Jamie Ratner Rich, CFP®, joined The Knall/Cohen/Pence Group of Stifel in 2020. Since 2000, Jamie has had the honor and pleasure of working with families to create purpose-driven plans suited to their personal and financial goals. Jamie focuses on gaining a thorough understanding of her clients’ goals and priorities to continually and proactively provide bespoke, family wealth management plans surrounding those personal and financial goals. She is highly experienced in managing both sides of her clients’ balance sheets and working with individuals, corporations, and endowments.

Jamie most recently served as Executive Director, Private Banking, at J.P. Morgan Chase, where she worked since 2010. Prior to that, she served as Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley and as Vice President, Private Banking, at National City (PNC). Her experience also includes acting as the CEO of a small company.

Highly active in the community, Jamie serves as vice president of The Jewish Community Relations Council and as a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis and the John H. Boner Center. She previously served as a board member of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Dress for Success Indianapolis, where she continues to volunteer. She also previously served as a board member and volunteer with organizations including the Young Professionals of Central Indiana, the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now Newfields), Girls Inc. of Indiana, and the Indy Hub.

Jamie previously served two years as an advisor to an undergraduate investment course at Butler University, where she earned an MBA in 2008. She earned the CFP® certification in 2010 and, in that same year, completed OPTIONS with Women’s Fund of The Central Indiana Community Foundation. In 2019, she was honored to become a graduate of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Program. She also holds a B.A. in History and Jewish Studies from Indiana University.

Tom spent the last 16 years on Wall Street working in the distribution of research for firms like Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Consumer Edge, and Stifel.

Tom is someone who inquisitively consumes content across a huge array of disciplines and extracts actionable insights for busy people. For most of the past decade, Tom wrote a weekly summary titled “The Best Bits,” which had a wide following in investment and non-investment circles.

Tom holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University. He moved to New York in 2009. He grew up in a British diplomatic household, traveling around the world and spending most of his childhood in London. Tom lives in New York with his wife, Diane. Tom and Diane have a two-year-old toddler named Jack and an opinionated rabbit named Frank.