Based in Ocean Ridge, Florida, Benchmark was founded in 1999 by Edward Siedle. Mr. Siedle is a federal securities attorney, investment banker, brokerage entrepreneur and writer, who has been referred to by the Press as the, "Sam Spade of money management" and "the nation's most vocal critic of abuses in the money management industry." Groundbreaking investigations undertaken by Siedle have included mutual fund portfolio manager illegal personal trading schemes, unethical pension consultant kick-back arrangements, illegal “soft dollar” programs, as well as hedge fund and venture capital fraud.
He was born Edward Ahmed Hamilton Siedle in Trinidad, British West Indies. He has lived in Trinidad, Venezuela, Panama, England, Uganda, Egypt and the United States.
Siedle, who attended Simon's Rock Early College, the nation's first "early college" for high school aged students, later graduated summa cum laude from Franklin Pierce College and received his juris doctorate from Boston College Law School. He began his career in law with the SEC's Division of Investment Management, which regulates money managers and mutual funds. After several years of government service in Washington, D.C., Siedle served as Legal Counsel and Director of Compliance to one of the largest international money management firms. Since 1989, he has founded and managed firms offering specialized services to municipalities, pension funds and money managers.
Siedle is nationally recognized as an authority on investment management and securities matters. He recently testified before the Senate Banking Committee regarding the mutual fund scandals. Articles about him have appeared in publications including Time, BusinessWeek, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, Institutional Investor, Pensions & Investments, Dow Jones News Service, The New Orleans Times Picayune, Investment News, and Bloomberg Business. He widely lectures and has appeared on CNBC, Wall Street Week, and Bloomberg News.
Siedle has been involved in the public pension community since 1990 and has been a sponsoring member of the National Association of State Treasurers, National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, National Association of Securities Professionals, and National Council on Teacher Retirement. He is an active member of the Massachusetts Bar.
Setting Standards For The Investment Management Industry
