Who We Are

Investment Team

Edwin M. Bruere, CFA

Senior Managing Director

Edwin is a Senior Managing Director of Mid-Continent Capital. He has been with the firm for over 23 years and is a senior member of the investment research committee. Previously, Ed spent twelve years at ABN AMRO Asset Management (USA) Inc. and its predecessor firm. He was a Senior Vice President and the Director of Institutional Equity Investments. As such, he was responsible for the firm’s approximately $2.5 billion in equity investments, focusing on the flagship Stable Growth and Value Strategies. Ed’s other prior experience includes two years as a Managing Director of an investment management firm and six years as a Senior Director at Bank of America in merchant banking (London), ship financing (Greece) and general banking (Chicago). Ed earned his B.S. from Iowa State University and his M.B.A. from Indiana University. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology teaching graduate school classes in Investments and Portfolio Management; from 1980 to 1983 he was an Adjunct Finance and Investments Professor at Mundelein College. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago as well as a Board Member of the Indiana University Reese Fund. Ed joined Mid-Continent Capital in 2000.

Roger A. Albrecht, CFA

Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager

Roger is a Managing Director of Mid-Continent Capital and Senior Portfolio Manager. Roger began his career in investments in 1990 as a research analyst for Morningstar, Inc. For three years, he conducted quantitative mutual fund research for its flagship publication Morningstar Mutual Funds. From 1993 – 1995 he was a Portfolio Manager at First Colonial Bankshares & Trust Company of Chicago (later merged into Firstar Investment Research & Management Corporation (FIRMCO) managing high net worth client investment portfolios. In late 1995 Roger joined Harris Bank & Trust Company as a Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager and for eight years was responsible for designing investment portfolio strategies for high net worth clients, researching debt and equity markets and securities and implementing market transactions. He was a member of the Harris Equity Security Selection committee and a member of the Harris Tactical Asset Allocation committee. Mr. Albrecht joined Bufka & Rodgers in 2003 as a Vice President and Portfolio Manager. He joined Mid-Continent in 2006 following its merger with the affiliated firm, Bufka & Rodgers. He received his B.S. Degree in Finance from Illinois State University in 1990, his M.S. Degree in Finance with Distinction in 2000 from DePaul University and was awarded the CFA charter in 1993. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Naples, FL. Roger volunteers as an advisory board member of Campton United Soccer Club where he served as a past President for 8 years; he is also the past Chairman of the Investment Committee for Fox Valley Hands of Hope where he served as Trustee for many years.

Michael F. Hussey, CFA, CMT

Director of Research

Michael is Director of Research for Mid-Continent Capital. He joined Mid-Continent in 2006 following its merger with an affiliated firm, Bufka & Rodgers (Bufka). Mr. Hussey joined Bufka in 1990 and over the ensuing decade held a variety of senior management positions there, including Director of Research. Mike's other prior experience includes five years as a Vice President in the Chicago office of The First Boston Corporation. He was also an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Finance at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill from 2002-2008. Mike earned his BA degree in Economics (with High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa) at the University of Virginia and his MBA degree (Beta Gamma Sigma) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He holds the CFA charter and is a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Chicago and the CMT Association.

John Adamczyk, CFA

Portfolio Manager

John is a Portfolio Manager with Mid-Continent Capital and is responsible for investment management and client service. John joined Mid-Continent in the fall of 2020 after working for over ten years at JPMorgan Chase. John held many roles in his time at JPMorgan, most recently as a Vice President Client Advisor in the Private Banking group where he provided investment advice and wealth planning strategies to high net worth families in the Chicago area. John earned his BA degree in Economics at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He also holds the CFA charter and is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago.

Erik M. Kratz, CFA, CAIA  

Portfolio Manager

Erik is a Portfolio Manager and a member of Mid-Continent’s research team. He began his career in 2009 managing relative value portfolios of equity, fixed income, commodity and currency futures for Breakwater Capital. From 2012-2015, he was a quantitative investment analyst for Northern Trust Asset Management, responsible for developing and rebalancing fundamentally weighted indexes used in ETF strategies. Erik earned his B.S. in Finance with a minor in Economics at Miami University (OH). He holds the CFA and CAIA designations and is a member of the CFA Institute, CFA Society of Chicago and CAIA Association.

Joseph McNicholas, CFP®️

Portfolio Manager

Joseph McNicholas is a Portfolio Manager for Mid-Continent Capital and is responsible for investment management and client service. Joe joined Mid-Continent Capital in the winter of 2023 after working for over 9 years in BMO Harris Bank's Wealth Management division. Joe's primary role at BMO Harris Bank was as Director, Portfolio Manager where Joe provided customized investment management and advisory solutions for high-net-worth individuals, families, organizations as part of an overall personal wealth management strategy. Joe earned a BS in Finance with honors from DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Joe also earned an MBA in Finance from Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University in Chicago, IL, and obtained his CFP®️ certification. Joe lives in Wilmette, IL with his wife and two children. Joe enjoys playing basketball and spending the summers with his family in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Mark Sagen CFA, AWMA

Senior Wealth Advisor

Mark is a Senior Wealth Advisor for Mid-Continent Capital. He began his career in 2006 at JP Morgan in the performance analytics division working with institutional defined benefit retirement plans. He then moved over to private wealth management with the East Coast division of BMO Harris Bank’s UHNW division, CTC|myCFO. With BMO, he had the opportunity to move to the Midwest with his family and has since worked as a wealth advisor with private clients and endowments, most recently at RMB Capital. Mark earned his MBA from Wesleyan College in West Virginia. He holds the CFA charter as well as the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor designation. Mark is a member of the CFA Institute of Chicago. Mark joined Mid-Continent Capital in January of 2023.

Operations Team

Ryan Hougardy

Director of Business Operations and Strategy

Ryan Hougardy is the Director of Business Operations and Strategy for Mid-Continent Capital where he identifies opportunities to advance business efficiencies and ways to leverage technology to streamline processes. Ryan joined MCC in 2023 after nearly 5 years at a fintech start-up where he worked as the Director of Operations, creating and managing strategic initiatives. Prior to that, Ryan spent 8 years as the Director of Operations and Director of Client Services at Northwestern Mutual, creating and driving adoption of procedural and strategic projects. Originally from California, Ryan earned his BS in Business Economics and his MBA from Chapman University.