T. Radey Johnson – 50th Reunion Essay

T. Radey Johnson

124 Willow Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201

radey.johnson@outlook.com

718-797-0519

Spouse(s): Jane Platt (1973)

Child(ren): Hope Johnson (1995); Alexandra Johnson (1997)

Education: Yale University, B.A., 1969; Yale University, M.Phil. (Comparative Literature), 1973

Career: Analyst and portfolio manager at Value Line, ABD Securities, and, for 25 years, at Rothschild Asset Management, where I also served as CEO until my retirement in 2013.

Avocations: Investing, cooking, theater

College: Pierson

After rereading what I wrote for our 25th reunion, I’m struck by how distant many pieces of that biography now seem. It’s not just the years. My life changed not long after that reunion with the adoption of two daughters born, and abandoned, in China. Raising children displaced other things in my life, especially given the challenges of transracial adoption. But I’ve never doubted that my daughters are the best thing in my life. And since I’m an older dad, they’re still at home.

Institutional interest in the small-cap stock strategy I started at Rothschild Asset Management took off right after my wife and I adopted our older daughter, so I was juggling frequent travel with managing portfolios at work and child-rearing at home. Job pressure increased when I became CEO in 2000, while still spending most of my time on portfolio management. And the financial crisis made things worse because assets declined, and because we lagged during the market’s rebound after outperforming in the downturn.

My retirement at the end of 2013 took the job pressure off, but left a vacuum. It took me more than two years to adjust to not working full time. Now I can sit in our row house in Brooklyn Heights, regretting that there are no more renovation projects in my future, but pleased with how this one turned out. And I can worry about my daughters and my own investment portfolio.

Twenty-five years on from my last Class Book essay, I have more to look back on and less to look forward to. That’s probably telling me to enjoy the moment. I’ll plan something good to cook for dinner!