John Cole Scott, CFS
President
Chief Investment Officer
Chief Compliance Officer
John Cole is proud to lead CEF Advisors and continue the legacy of his father, George, a pioneer in closed-end investments who bought into the firm in 1996. After earning his bachelor's degree from William and Mary, John Cole joined his father at the firm in 2001, launching his own rewarding and distinguished career.
Today John Cole is regarded as one of the foremost experts in the industry, and is frequently consulted by investment groups, professional organizations, and the national financial press for his deep insight and knowledge about closed-end fund (CEF), business development company (BDC), and interval fund data, research, and investing. Highly motivated and goal-oriented, he is driven by his passion for the industry, building meaningful connections with people, and a deeply personal aspiration to do hard things well.
In 2008, John Cole founded CEFData.com, a data service now covering all U.S. listed and non-listed CEFs, BDCs, and interval funds. In 2019, he also founded the Active Investment Company Alliance (AICA), and serves as its executive chairman. John Cole holds the FINRA 66 license and the Certified Fund Specialist® (CFS®) designation.
A Richmond native, John Cole, his wife Katherine, and daughter Lexi call Short Pump home. An active supporter of his alma mater, John Cole serves on the board of the William & Mary Foundation and is a board member of the William & Mary Alumni Association. He is also a long-time member of the Richmond Association for Business Economics (RABE) and is Treasurer and Co-Chair of the Investment Committee for The New York State Society of The Cincinnati. John Cole founded an acapella group in college and still loves singing karaoke today.
Daniel Silver, CFA
Portfolio Manager
Dan handles portfolio management, research, and trading activities for CEFA. He received his B.A. in Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst ("CFA") designation. Prior to joining CEFA, he was a portfolio manager for Zoso Capital, and previously worked for investment banks UBS, Morgan Stanley, and SunTrust performing investment research and was a senior analyst at George Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers.
David W. Carter
General Counsel
Compliance Associate
David joined CEFA in 2016 and serves as General Counsel and assists in Compliance and Operations for the firm . Prior to joining CEF Advisors, David practiced law for more than ten years during which time his practice primarily focused on bankruptcy (representing secured creditors), creditor's rights, collections, and real estate. He is currently licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as well as the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia. He is a past Secretary of the Virginia Creditor's Bar Association as well as a former member of the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. American Inn of Court.
He currently serves on the Alumni Board of Trustees for the Virginia Commonwealth University Chapter of the Delta Chi Fraternity (of which he was a founding father) and served on the Supreme Court of Virginia's Pandemic Flu Preparedness Commission. Prior to attending law school, David worked in the advertising department of Circuit City Stores, Inc. as a graphic artist and also experienced stints in radio broadcasting and sales. David graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.S. in Mass Communications and earned his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law.
Jennifer Campbell
Administrative Assistant to John Cole Scott
Jennifer joined Closed-End Fund Advisors in September of 2012. Prior to joining CEFA, she worked in sports management, managing endorsements, marketing, travel, and other client management needs for professional baseball players. Jennifer's experience also includes event and travel planning, coordinating travel programs around major sporting events for Fortune 500 companies. She currently assists John Cole Scott in travel planning, meeting planning, and client management.
Alexandru Antal
Data Manager
Alex joined Closed-End Fund Advisors in November 2011 and he is currently in charge of data management and database administration. He holds a master's degree in Databases from The Bucharest University of Economic Studies. Prior to joining CEFA, Alex worked as an economist and he also participated in several freelance IT projects for clients from United States, Europe and Australia.
In Memoriam
George Cole Scott, III
President and Sr. Portfolio Manager
Closed-End Fund Advisors 1996-2019
Born: July 9. 1937 - New York, NY
Died: October 25, 2023 - Richmond, VA
George's obituary can be found HERE.