Frank M. Bass II, Principal and President, is a 1968 graduate of Davidson College. After serving three and one-half years as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy, in 1972 he became associated with J.C. Bradford & Company as an investment analyst. In 1976 he joined Lee, Robinson & Steine, Inc. as an analyst and portfolio manager. In 1986 he was appointed to head that firm’s equity strategy group and later named chief investment strategist. He left in 1988 to help found Lee, Danner & Bass, Inc. with John Lee and Ray Danner. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is a past president of the Nashville Society of Financial Analysts. He has also served on the Ethics Review Committee of the Financial Analysts Federation.
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Ernest Williams III, Principal and Director, is a 1967 graduate of Washington & Lee University and received an MBA from Cornell University in 1969. He began his investment career with Chemical Bank in New York as a securities analyst and portfolio manager. In 1975 he earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation as an officer of C&S Invesco. He was the Assistant Treasurer & Acting Treasurer of Vanderbilt University from 1976 to 1981. In 1981 he founded The Southern Fiduciary Group, Inc., an S.E.C. registered investment counseling firm, serving as president until 2007 when he joined Lee, Danner & Bass, Inc. He is a member of the CFA Institute.

Lawson C. Allen, Principal and Vice President, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and holds a degree in public policy studies with an economics emphasis. Prior to joining the firm, he was associated with the Bankers Trust NY Companies in various trust and custody administrative capacities. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Nashville Society of Financial Analysts and is a past president of the organization. He has also served on the Presidents Council of the Association for Investment Management and Research, as well as the Nominating Committee for the Southeastern Presidents Council Representative.
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Mark B. Smith, Principal and Secretary/Treasurer, is a graduate of James Madison University with dual majors in accounting and management information systems. He is a Certified Public Accountant and was formerly associated with KPMG Peat Marwick.
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Frank M. Bass III, Portfolio Manager, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with dual majors in economics and English. Prior to joining the firm, Frank was a commercial officer in the Private Banking Division of SunTrust Bank. He is a current member of the CFA Institute and was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2003.
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Raymond L. Danner, Principal and a Director, is one of America’s outstanding entrepreneurs. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he opened a single restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee in 1959. From that beginning, he built the company, now known as Shoney’s, Inc., into one of the largest restaurant chains in the country. He was the company’s chief executive officer until 1986 and served as senior chairman through 1989. He is also the founder and chief executive officer of The Danner Company, a diversified investment holding company. A highlight of his business career came in 1987 when he was named to the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans.