Our People

Robert E. Pike, CFA

Managing Principal

Emery is the Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer of Stratford Advisors, who established the Company in 2004 after 20 years as an institutional portfolio manager. He was with the Wachovia Corporation from 1984 until 1998, where he served as Senior Vice President and senior portfolio manager in the Asset Management Group, the institutional money management area of the Bank. He managed portfolios and provided investment research for a variety of foundations, endowments, hospitals, corporations, mutual funds, common trust funds, and individuals. He is a past manager of Wachovia’s inaugural open-end mutual funds, the Biltmore Balanced Fund, the Biltmore Fixed Income Fund, and the Biltmore U.S. Treasury Money Market Fund.

Emery began his career in 1984 as a Registered Representative for Wachovia’s Bond Department, where he earned and held federal and state regulatory licenses Series 6, Series 7, and Series 52. He was responsible for managing securities sales in Wachovia’s Southern Region, based in Charlotte, NC from 1986 through 1989.

He also managed portfolios for private clients from 1998 to 2004 at a private family office in Winston-Salem, and contributed to the firm’s model equity and fixed income portfolios.

Emery earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1991 and is a past President and Board Member of the CFA NC Society. He graduated cum laude with “Honors in History” from Wake Forest University in 1984 and holds an MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management of Wake Forest University. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Finance at High Point University.

Matthew L. Brown

Director of Research and Technology

Matthew joined Stratford Advisors in 2008 and serves as Director of Research and Technology. He is a native of Greensboro NC, and is a 2007 graduate of UNC-Charlotte, where he earned a BA in Psychology and a minor in Economics. Matt assists with all manner of research, trading, client reporting, technology management, and the overall portfolio allocation.