Thyra Zerhusen, manager, Aston/Fairpointe Mid Cap mutual fund; founder, Fairpointe Capital

( June 16, 2012 )

The investment environment has been tough. That's largely due to macroeconomic issues, such as economic crisis in Europe, and is not reflective of how strong U.S. companies really are. Still, it wasn't a repeat of 2008, because the companies in our portfolio are in much better shape, and their businesses are doing relatively well.

There's a disconnect between the fundamentals at the company level and the macro headline news. When you're in the middle of this negative stuff, it's frustrating. But we have been there many times before. You just have to manage through it.

See the original profile that ran Sept. 5, 2011