Cale Graham, former managing partner at Endeavour Investment Partners and veteran fundster and distribution executive, left the mutual fund industry this December. Graham, who focused on doing outsourced sales and marketing for boutique asset managers, is now president of S&T Precision Plate Cutting.

John Cale Graham S&T Precision Plate Cutting President

Graham's move comes as he sees big industry changes, like the active-to-passive shift. Yet on a more personal level, Graham said his decision to leave the mutual fund industry was driven by personal interests in building and architecture, and by the possible legacy he wanted to leave his children, getting them involved more easily.

"I wanted to own 100 percent of what I'm doing now," Graham says. "I got to the point where I wanted to do something more tangible. I wanted to actually make tangible things and sell those."

After 14 years, Graham says he couldn't help but feel he was abandoning his former partner, Endeavour's Pat Carolan. However, he says that Carolan was supportive. Carolan and Graham were friends before becoming partners at Endeavour and remain friends after Graham left to work at S&T.

"I couldn't ask for a better partner in how he helped me transition," Graham says. "He was a great guy to work with."

Carolan did not immediately return a call for comment.

Even though he is working in a completely new industry, Graham expects to bring a lot of his marketing experience to S&T Precision Plate Cutting. Graham plans on growing S&T by driving new business through other channels.

S&T's tag line is "We cut flat stuff!" Their main customers consist of manufacturers that make and maintain machines, which the S&T cuts parts for. Their targets include: machine shops, industrial manufacturers, and companies that focus on building conveyor lines used for product (i.e. food) processing, filling, distribution, etc.

Graham, who earned an architecture degree from Princeton University, tells MFWire that there was more work to be done in the architecture space. The "Art world, architecture world and building world are channels not fully exploited," said Graham. This means, not only cutting flat parts used to make steel walls, mantels, or staircase runners, but also adding finishes to those flat parts. In doing so, S&T can help create a client’s architectural and artistic vision. 

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