Steinmetz was one of the first fund managers to combine junk bonds, U.S. government bonds and foreign bonds in a diversified "strategic income" portfolio. He leads OppenheimerFunds' international fixed-income team and has been active in the global bond markets since 1987.

He has co-managed the Oppenheimer Strategic Income Fund since its inception in 1989. Steinmetz also co-manages two others, Oppenheimer International Bond Fund and Oppenheimer Strategic Income/VA.

Compared to most investments, his funds have been strong performers since the bear market started. Over the past three years, the Oppenheimer International Bond Fund has averaged a return of 8.9 percent, while the Strategic Income Fund has gained 3.9 percent annually.

The International Bond Fund has gained almost 16 percent this year. The Strategic Income Fund has risen almost 6 percent over the same period.

From 1987 to 1994, Steinmetz was portfolio manager for two of OppenheimerFunds' U.S. government securities funds.

Before joining OppenheimerFunds in 1986, Mr. Steinmetz was an analyst with PaineWebber, where he dealt with derivative securities.

Steinmetz received an MBA in finance from Columbia University and a bachelors degree in Russian language and Slavic studies from Denison University. He also served in the U.S. Air Force.

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Schapiro joined Strong Capital Management in May 2001. Before Strong hired her, she co-managed international equity subadvised mutual funds and institutional accounts for almost nine years at Wells Capital Management in San Francisco.

She started her financial career as a tech industry analyst at Western Asset Management and later managed the Western Technology Fund at Harris Bretall Sullivan & Smith. In 1988, she joined Tyndall International Management of London, then an affiliate of Newport Pacific Management, and subsequently was named a vice president and fund manager for Newport Pacific, an international investment advisory firm based in San Francisco.

Since Schapiro came aboard as co-manager on May 14, 2001, Strong Overseas is down 31 percent, or roughly in line with what the overseas market as a whole has experienced. For instance, over the same period, the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia, Far East Index is down more than 29 percent.

Schapiro graudated from Stanford University. She is a chartered financial analyst, a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research, and a past president of the Security Analysts of San Francisco.

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Trahan joined Bear Stearns last month as the company's leading market strategist. He previously oversaw Brown Brothers Harriman's sector recommendations and focus list for stocks. Other previous jobs include strategist at Ned Davis Research Group, where he covered international stocks and co-wrote the company's monthly publication on asset allocation.

He has a master's degree in economics and international finance from the University of Montreal.

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He's been called the ultimate value investor, a rabble-rouser, a gadfly and a voice in the wilderness. Call him what you want, but one thing is certain: it's difficult to ignore him.

Denton has made a career out of investing in poorly-governed companies that he can browbeat into shape, thus boosting the stock price. Providence itself uses a more subdued description, saying that it "specializes in shareholder matters with a mission to realize values independent of the stock market."

There's no doubt that Denton is independent. He has shaken up boards, sponsoring 19 directors of various companies over 11 years. He rattled cages at Digital Equipment, which eventually merged with Compaq; successfully knocked down or weakened anti-takeover provisions at Alaska Air Group, Great Lakes Chemical, Navistar International, Footstar and Toys `R' Us; and even took on the Bush administration's current choice for SEC Chairman, William Donaldson, whose tenure at Aetna has been the target of withering criticism from Denton. "To have Donaldson in charge of the top watchdog agency is just flabbergasting," Denton told The Seattle Times.

Denton chooses his targets carefully. "We never go after a company that is too complex to understand or fix," he told BusinessWeek.

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