--- title: "Q&A with Dana Portfolio Manager: Michael Honkamp, CFA" description: Dana’s Michael Honkamp explains how he got started in equity investing, what the culture is like at Dana and what is keeping him up at night. image: https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images/Dana-Q%26A-Quote-LinkedIn.png --- - [Home](https://www.danainvestment.com/) - About Us - [Who We Are](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-are/) - [Who We Serve](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-serve/) - [Our Responsibilities](https://www.danainvestment.com/our-responsibilities/) - [Meet The Team](https://www.danainvestment.com/meet-the-team/) - [History](https://www.danainvestment.com/history/) - [Awards](https://www.danainvestment.com/awards/) - Our Services - [Overview](https://www.danainvestment.com/overview/) - [Equity Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/equity-strategies/) - [Fixed Income Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/fixed-income-strategies/) - [Wealth Management](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/wealth-management/) - Insights - [The Dana Viewpoint](https://www.danainvestment.com/category/the-dana-viewpoint/) - [News & Updates](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/news-updates/) - [Content Library](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/content-library/) - [Resources](https://www.danainvestment.com/resources/) - [Contact](https://www.danainvestment.com/contact/) - [Stay Informed](https://www.danainvestment.com/stay-informed/) [![Dana Investment](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/mobile-logo.png?width=300&height=76&name=mobile-logo.png "Dana Investment")](https://www.danainvestment.com/) - About Us - [Who We Are](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-are/) - [Who We Serve](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-serve/) - [Our Responsibilities](https://www.danainvestment.com/our-responsibilities/) - [Meet The Team](https://www.danainvestment.com/meet-the-team/) - [History](https://www.danainvestment.com/history/) - [Awards](https://www.danainvestment.com/awards/) - Our Services - [Overview](https://www.danainvestment.com/overview/) - [Equity Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/equity-strategies/) - [Fixed Income Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/fixed-income-strategies/) - [Wealth Management](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/wealth-management/) - Thought Leadership - [Insights](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog) - [The Dana Viewpoint](https://www.danainvestment.com/category/the-dana-viewpoint/) - [News & Updates](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/news-updates/) - [Content Library](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/content-library/) - [Resources](https://www.danainvestment.com/resources/) - [Contact](https://www.danainvestment.com/contact/) - [Stay Informed](https://www.danainvestment.com/stay-informed/) [![Dana Investment Advisors](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/header-logo.png?width=300&height=76&name=header-logo.png "Dana Investment Advisors")](https://www.danainvestment.com/) MENU CLOSE ![](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/search-image.png) # Q&A with Dana Portfolio Manager: Michael Honkamp, CFA Published on Nov 30, 2018, 11:56:40 AM   #### ![Dana_Michael Honkamp](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Dana-Q%26A-Quote-Inline.png?width=500&name=Dana-Q%26A-Quote-Inline.png) #### Michael Honkamp, CFA joined Dana Investment Advisors in 1999 and has been managing equity portfolios since 2003. Recently, a member of our team sat down with Michael and asked him a few questions about his career and experience.   ***Q: How did you wind up at Dana Investment Advisors?*** A: Mike Dana, founder of Dana Investment Advisors, was a Cub Scout leader with my mother. He offered advice when I was in school, and brought me in for lunch one day during college to explain his view of the business. Years later in 1998, after a bout of entrepreneurialism, we reconnected and he offered some bond projects to occupy me as an intern. Eventually they started paying me and taking me to meetings! ***Q: What was the transition like from fixed income to equity investing?*** A: As a backdrop, I had always been interested in the equity markets. I started reading about them in high school and took relevant classes in college and graduate school. Initially, Dana had an opportunity for me on the fixed income side, which I accepted as a challenge and to ensure I could get established in the field. After the late 2002 market turbulence I started working on a portfolio of lower volatility and higher income large cap stocks for a client. That started my pull into equities and in 2006 I began helping with other strategies.   ***Q: What is the culture like at Dana?*** A: The culture was very entrepreneurial in the beginning, which suited my skills and experience. Over time the firm has grown from $1b to $7b, and there are more specific demands requiring specialized attention. Importantly, however, industrious and curious thinkers are still rewarded. The investment team has a lot of freedom, even though we operate all equity and bond strategies with a disciplined process, but we are involved in some detail on most aspects of the verticals we work in – like sales, service, and communication – so as individuals we have to maintain an entrepreneurial posture. There are a lot of dimensions to what we are expected to be able to do.   ***Q: As more and more money flows into passive small-cap products, low- or non-earning companies are being lifted with strong-earning companies alike.  Does this present any opportunities for active managers like yourself?*** A: Opportunities is a funny word there. The passive wave often seems more like a puzzle, and we spend time trying to understand it. One challenge it presents is the potential for positive correlation between high and low-quality companies in a given period, what some call reduced-correlation differentials. There are other aspects to the passive impact that many strategists are still studying. Fortunately, there are a lot of storylines in the small cap space, so we do not have to focus on the non-earning element any more than we have to focus on the other puzzles we find in our space. In the end, clients expect us to choose good stocks.   ***Q: What are some broad market trends you’re monitoring now? Is anything keeping you up at night?*** A: There are some tensions in the market – like between valuation and momentum. Recently we have been in an environment where market factors such as sales growth are very important, and stable-growth companies with great profitability may be getting less attention if their top line can’t move higher fast enough. While not keeping me up at night, I am concerned liquidity and electronic trading may amplify volatility within short term market adjustments. I’m unsure how prepared retail investors or advisors are for real volatility.     [![Stay up to date with current market trends. 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