Biography

From 1992 to 1996 Bob was a Portfolio Manager as well as fixed income and equity research analyst.  Bob first became a Portfolio Manager in 1992 at Foxhall Investment Management providing stock and bond research and helping to manage over $350 million in equity and balanced portfolios for high-net-worth individuals and small institutions.  In 1995 after the firm was acquired by Prudential and merged with its own Gibraltar Advisors, Bob moved to work in NY City with the firm as a Portfolio Manager and head of Growth Equities.  Gibraltar managed about $2 billion in assets including equities and fixed income.  

Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) 
Senior Financial Analyst (5/91-9/92)

First American Bankshares
Planning Officer (8/87-5/91)

Sovran Bank/Maryland 
Financial Analyst & Internal Auditor (11/85-8/87)

Bankers Finance Investment Mgmt Corp 
Internal Auditor (7/85-11/85)

Personal Community

Bob is currently a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts and the CFA Institute.  He served on the Board of Directors of the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII).  He is a former Treasurer of the Washington Society of Investment Analysts.  
    
Bob resides in Westfield, NJ with his wife and has two daughters.  He is an avid golfer, biker (both motorcycle and bicycle) and sports enthusiast.  Bob is actively involved at Echo Lake Country Club where he served on the Board of Trustees as well as various internal committees.  He has been active in coaching in the town for many years and supportive of the Westfield recreational sports leagues.  Bob has served the town and held Board of Trustee positions on the Westfield Public Library, the Westfield Planning Board and the Downtown Westfield Corporation.  He and his wife are also highly supportive of charities involving children as well as cancer, heart and kidney research.

​Bob Centrella, CFA 

As President and founding partner of Forza, Bob has a long history and practical understanding of the financial markets.  Bob is a former equity mutual fund portfolio manager and he has worked over 37 years in the financial services industry and as a professional private client and institutional money manager since 1992.  Bob has held the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation since 1993.  He has an MBA Finance from George Mason University (1990) and a BS Accounting from the University of Scranton (1983).  During his career he has worked for several types of financial institutions including Investment Management Firms, Banks, a Government Agency (FNMA), and Blue-Chip Insurance companies. This experience coupled with his education provides a unique perspective from which to advise clients and manage investments.  Bob has written numerous articles for publication and authors the Forza Newsletter.  He also collaborated on the book "Wall Street Potholes" published by Wiley and authored Chapter-6 in the book. 


(Note: CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.)  ​

Professional Experience​

Forza Investment Advisory, LLC (2010 - Present)
President and Managing Partner

Mackay Shields, NY - Division of NY Life (7/96-7/09) (Total Firm Assets: $38 Billion)
Managing Director (4/06 - 7/09) Co-Manager of all Growth Equity Assets

Director, Portfolio Manager (1/01 - 4/06)
Assoc Director, Portfolio Manager (7/96 - 1/01)
   
From 1996 to 2009 Bob worked at MacKay Shields (subsidiary of NY Life) as an institutional equity portfolio manager. Primary responsibilities included providing proprietary stock research and managing Growth Equity portfolios including separate institutional accounts and the Mainstay Mutual Funds (Mid-Cap Growth, All-Cap Growth and Capital Appreciation Funds).  During his tenure each of these three funds achieved a Morningstar 4-star or 5-star status.  MacKay was a $38 billion multi-product investment management firm with Growth Equity assets ranging from $3 billion to $15 billion while he was at the firm.  In 2006 Bob was promoted to Managing Director and Co-manager of all Growth Equity portfolios which totaled over $5 billion at the time and included the Mainstay Mid-Cap Growth, Mainstay All-Cap Growth and Mainstay Capital Appreciation Mutual Funds.  Bob also managed the Smid-Cap growth portfolios from 1999 to 2009.  Bob was a member of the Asset Allocation Committee for the successful Mainstay Total Return Fund at MacKay which determined the allocation of the fund from a mixture of assets including domestic and foreign equities, fixed income, high yield bonds and convertibles.​

​Gibraltar Advisors, NY - Division of Prudential Securities (formerly Foxhall Investment Mgmt)
VP, Portfolio Manager (4/94 - 6/96)  (Firm Assets: $1.7 Billion)

Foxhall Investment Management, Washington, DC 
AVP, Portfolio Manager (10/92 - 4/94)  (Firm Assets:  $400 Million)

FORZA INVESTMENT ADVISORY, LLC