Annie Foster Freedland   Actress/Philanthropist/Jewelry Designer

After growing up in San Marino, California and attending USC, Annie's professional modeling and acting career spanned more than several decades.  In 1971, she began her career as a top model at the legendary Wilhelmina Agency and was later recruited to join Eileen Ford's agency, The Fords.  Annie has starred in over 50 national commercial campaigns, from the iconic Coppertone billboard and ad (she was the "green bathing suit" girl) to replacing Pam Austin as the Dodge spokesperson to serving as the original Hertz spokesperson (before OJ).  She is fond of saying "I have sold you everything but a coffee!" when asked why she looks so familiar.  Along the way, Annie appeared in several TV series including Starsky & Hutch (as Hutch's girlfriend Abby), Happening!, and Barnaby Jones.

It is less well known that Annie’s ancestors played an important role in settling New England.  Her direct decendant, Reverand Ralph Wheelock, founded the towns of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts and was the first public school teacher in America.  Reverand Ralph Wheelock helped raise the initial funding to found Harvard College in 1653 and his great grandson Reverend Eleazar Wheelock founded Dartmouth College in 1769. 

She is equally proud that her cousin Leolyn Everett Spellman donated the family's Villa Spelman in Florence Italy to Johns Hopkins University which used it for over 25 years to host the Johns Hopkins Center for European Studies.  Annie is currently researching Leolyn's life story as part of a plan to film a documentary on her amazing life.

Everyone who knows Annie has experienced her commitment to any number of charities to which she has lent her time and considerable fundraising efforts.  And she is most proud that she has accomplished all of this while raising a wonderful family including five children.

Most recently, Annie launched a new jewelry line, Ann Foster Designs.  You can check it out at www.annfosterdesigns.com

Howard Steven Freedland, CFA  Investor/Busniessman/Philanthropist

Howard Freedland began his investment career in the early '70s as an analyst and portfolio manager at The St. Paul's mutual fund subsidiary.  Recruited to Beverly Hills to run equity investments for CMB Investment Advisors in 1978, he decided that his clients would be better served paying him for performance as opposed to an asset-based fee.  This radical idea led to the formation in 1978 of one of the first hedge funds on the West Coast, September Investors.  In order to implement one of the first "green mail" transactions (today it would be called "activist investing"), he formed his own institutional broker-dealer, London Freedland.

Over the years, he is credited with a number of innovative strategies including one of the first  private placements in a public company (today's PIPE transactions).  His private equity fund, September Venture Investors, financed several private companies that had public exits.

During the the late '80s and early '90s, he left the investment business for a four year charitable stint in Venice, Italy and London, England. In 1992, Mr. Freedland returned to the States to help lead the turnaround of a major durable medical goods company.  He then negotiated a joint venture between GE Capital & ResCom and became CFO of the resulting telecommunications joint venture.  In 1995, he formed National Water & Power which is currently one of the largest providers of independent utility billing services in the US. 

After the sale of NWP in 2000 to a consortium of venture investors, Mr. Freedland founded a consulting company specializing in the utility and telecommunications industries where he developed a personal and proprietary management technique called “3 Dimensional Management”.  Mr. Freedland was a leading advisor to the State of California during the 2000 - 2001 energy crisis.

Having actively returned to the investment business in 2010, Mr. Freedland spends his time seeking out emerging hedge fund superstars and interesting investment opportunities.  In conjunction with Direct Lending Advisors, where Mr. Freedland serves as Chief Investment Officer, they recently launched a new investment partnership that invests in directly originated fully-amortizing 3 year consumer term loans.  The purpose of the partnership is to generate 9% - 11% net/net annuals returns with predicatble monthly cash flow.  You can learn more by checking out www.directlendingadvisors.com

Howard Freedland is also the Chief Investment Officer of Mickelson Capital Consulting.  Mickelson Capital Consulting is a registered investment advisor and strategic consulting firm.

Mr. Freedland recently became a strategic advisor to PanAm Terra, an early stage company that will invest in farmland in Latin America.  link to press release below.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/farmland/investment/prweb10165850.htm