EX-LEPERCQ MANAGER PLANTS REDWOOD IN STAMFORD, CONN.

On an Indian summer day two weeks ago, money manager Andrew Merz Hanson was in hot pursuit of a cold stock pick.

Nobody in the New York metropolitan region had the heat turned on, but the unseasonably warm weather didn’t keep Mr. Hanson from investing in one of his favorite stocks, KCS Energy Inc., an oil and gas concern in Edison, N.J. He beefed up his total position in the individual accounts that he manages by 7 percentage points to 30%, believing the stock had bottomed at $17. It has since reached $17.56.

The stock price had been falling for months, dropping nearly 50% from its price in September. The move is one of the first Mr. Hanson has made since his new money management firm, Redwood Investment Management LLC in Stamford, Conn., opened at the beginning of the year.

“Gas prices are absurdly low,” he says.

The 47-year-old investor, who is managing $5 million in individual accounts, left Lepercq de Neuflize & Co. Inc., a New York-based boutique money manager, after nine years. He co-managed the Lepercq-Istel Fund, a growth-and-income mutual fund, and oversaw a hedge fund and separate accounts.

Mr. Hanson says he left Lepercq on amicable terms because of differing investment philosophies. He wanted to find growth companies at a reasonable price, he says, and the firm wanted to invest in companies undergoing major transformations such as restructurings.

Mr. Hanson’s former co-manager at Lepercq, Tsering Ngudu, did not return telephone calls.

Lepercq-Istel’s returns have been “less than stellar, often near the bottom,” of its growth and income investment category, says Michael Lipper, president of Lipper Analytical Services Inc. in New York. Mr. Lipper says it is difficult to tell which manager was responsible for the fund’s poor performance.

Mr. Hanson won’t comment on the topic.

The fund’s one-year return as of Dec. 31 was 8.95%, for instance, ranking it 618th of 624. And its five-year average annualized return was 13.52% – 228th of 241.

As far as Mr. Hanson
is concerned, he prefers managing money from his house in a rustic part of Stamford near the New York border. He hopes to attract investors with a minimum of $125,000 in assets.

He tries to combine the elements of value and growth investing by purchasing growth companies when their future prospects are not fully valued.

“I come up with six to eight ideas a year,” he says.

He also emphasizes that he likes to hold stocks for a long time.

For instance, he has been investing in Cendant Corp., a holding company with dual headquarters in Stamford and Parsippany, N.J., for seven years. Cendant owns, among other things, real estate broker Coldwell Banker Corp. and the Days Inn hotel chain. Mr. Hanson says he has earned 15 times his money – he purchased the stock at $2.02, and it was trading at $32 early last week. He says KCS Energy, in which he began investing in 1992, has returned six times his original investment.

He admits his latest idea, another energy stock, is a bit risky. Gresham Resources Inc. is listed on the Vancouver stock exchange, “which should tell you something right there,” he jokes. He bought the oil firm’s stock at 90 cents, and it’s down to 87 cents.

But Gresham, he says, is developing oil-location methods he considers innovative.

New Jobs

Putnam Investments of Boston

has named equity chief Tim Ferguson, 40, to the new position of head of investments, with responsibility for fixed-income investments as well. The role of Gary Coburn, 51, who headed the fixed-income area, is undetermined. In addition, former institutional sales chief Thomas Lucey, 54, will lead sales and marketing in both the institutional and retail areas.

Aim Capital Management Inc. of Houston has promoted Edgar M. Larsen, 57, to chief equity officer. He will continue to serve as lead portfolio manager of Aim Capital Development Fund.

Board of Trade Clearing Corp. of Chicago has promoted Nancy Brooks to the new position of vice president and assistant secretary. Ms. Brooks, 37, has been ass
ociate general counsel for five years.

Standish Ayer & Wood Inc. of Boston has appointed Thomas P. Sorbo, 36, as a corporate director and head of marketing and sales. Mr. Sorbo comes from Stein Roe & Farnham in Chicago, where he was senior vice president-director of institutional marketing. James J. Kilbane, 35, was promoted to fill Mr. Sorbo’s position at Stein Roe.