Peter Ricchiuti is the assistant dean at Tulane University's (New Orleans, LA) A.B. Freeman School of Business, who after a successful career on Wall Street served for five years as the assistant state treasurer and chief investment officer for Louisiana. There he managed the State's $3 billion investment portfolio and served on boards overseeing another $8 billion in retirement funds.  In 1993, Ricchiuti founded the Burkenroad Reports investment research program. Burkenroad Reports - published by Tulane - are widely circulated financial reports on small- to medium-sized companies between Texas and Florida (inclusive) that are traditionally under-followed by stock analysts.  The Burkenroad-followed companies are referred to as "stocks under rocks".  Under Dr. Ricchiuti's supervision, a group of 130 students work in small groups to produce the reports after visiting companies and interviewing top management. This procedure gives students the opportunity to develop practical stock analysis skills, while identifying viable publicly-held firms that are ready for serious consideration by investors.

Please tune in to Biz Talk With Josh Smith this Thursday when he interviews Professor Ricchiuti, who will be joined by two of his students, Richard Gray (MBA) May 2012, and Sonya Zhong, Undergraduate business major graduating in 2012 - to find out not only why some of the best small and mid-sized publicly held companies are worthy of your investment dollars, but also why Ricchiuti has been twice voted top professor of the year at the A.B. Freeman School of business.