Are we headed to Dow 100,000? An interview with Charles W. Kadlec, Managing Director, J. & W. Seligman & Co. Inc

Review of Business, Fall, 2002 by Donald R. Pitti

(This interview took place on July 30, 2002.)

J. & W. Seligman & Co. Incorporated is a New York based investment manager and advisor. Founded in 1864, Seligman has a distinguished history in the financial services industry, creating, delivering and managing investment products of the highest quality for individuals and institutions. Currently, the firm has more than $20 billion in assets under management J. & W. Seligman & Co. has an additional office in Palo Alto and its affiliates have marketing offices in London, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires.

Seligman is known for its innovation in developing investment products and strategies for the retail and institutional markets, and is one of the world's largest investors in the technology sector. Today, Seligman manages one of the world's largest U.S.-based technology mutual funds, as well as its offshore counterpart. In addition, it is recognized as a leader in providing investment opportunities in venture capital and private companies.

From the earliest days, Seligman played a major role in the geographical expansion and industrial development of the U.S. In the late 19th century, the firm helped finance the westward expansion of the railroads, the construction of the Panama Canal and the launching of urban transit systems.

In the first part of the 20th century, the firm helped fund the growing capital needs of public utilities, large-scale mining and land ventures, and the development of the fledgling automobile and steel industries. It participated in hundreds of successful underwritings, including those for some of America's most renowned companies such as General Motors, Victor Talking Machines and Maytag.

In 1929, the firm established Tri-Continental Corporation, now the largest diversified closed-end investment company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout the ensuing decades, Seligman applied the same insight and careful judgment that had made it a leader in raising capital, to the management of investment for institutions and investment company shareholders around the globe. Since its founding, Seligman has been an active investor in technologies that have shaped the age.

The firm has expertise in both institutional money management and mutual funds. Institutional clients include a roster of some of America's best-known corporate, public and endowment/foundation entities. Seligman offers a broad range of on-shore and offshore mutual funds to individual investors, working with some of the world's premier financial advisors. Those offerings include a range of retirement services and Seligman College HorizonFunds, an option offered within North Carolina's College Savings Program.

Seligman is proud of its distinctive past and the values that continue to shape the firm's decisions and investment judgment While much has changed over the years, the firm's commitment to providing prudent investment management that seeks to build wealth for clients remains a solid foundation as the firm enters the new millennium.

Charles W. Kadlec is a Managing Director of J. & W. Seligman & Co. Incorporated. Mr. Kadlec manages the Seligman Time Horizon and Harvester Funds and serves as Chief investment Strategist for Seligman Advisors, Inc., distributor of the Seligman Group of Funds.

With his broad business and academic background, Mr. Kadlec provides unique insight into how economics and politics impact the overall investment environment. He is the architect of several investment strategies, chief among them Seligman Time Horizon Matrix, which is based on an investor's time horizon to reaching goals, and Seligman Harvester, a strategy addressing the unique concerns facing retirees.

Mr. Kadlec is a member of the international Advisory Council of the Institute of International Education. He served as an economic advisor to Jack Kemp during his 1988 presidential bid and maintained a close advisory relationship with him during his tenure as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mr. Kadlec has also testified before Congress on Monetary Policy, Government Poverty Programs, and before the Flat Tax Commission. He is currently a columnist for Investment News, and his articles appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other investment periodicals. In addition, he has appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box" and is a frequent guest on CNNfn's "Market Call," Bloomberg TV, and Reuters Television. Mr. Kadlec is the author of the book, Dow 100,000: Fact or Fiction published by Prentice Hall in September 1999.

Prior to joining Seligman in 1985, Mr. Kadlec was Executive Vice President and Director of Research at A.B. Laffer Associates, an economic consulting firm based in San Diego. Previously, he was a partner in H.C. Wainwright & Co., Economics, in Boston, and officer of Crocker National Bank in San Francisco, and a contributing editor to Business Week magazine in New York. He received his MBA with honors from the University of Chicago, and his BA from the University of Illinois (Urbana).