David Corbin

David A. Corbin (born April 13, 1967 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is a well-known American investor. He is the founder of Corbin & Company, an investment advisory firm in Fort Worth, Texas. The company specializes in the management of assets for individuals, trusts, pension plans, endowments and foundations. Corbin currently serves as President and Chief Investment Officer.
Biography
David A. Corbin (born April 13, 1967 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is a well-known American investor. He is the founder of Corbin & Company, an investment advisory firm based in Fort Worth, Texas with an office in the Los Angeles area. The company specializes in the management of assets for individuals, trusts, pension plans, foundations and endowments. Mr. Corbin currently serves as the firm’s President & Chief Investment Officer.
EARLY LIFE
Corbin began his career at an early age, buying his first stock at the age of eight with money made from a paper route in Geneseo, Illinois. By the time he was twelve, he was managing money for his grandmother and had a subscription to Value Line Investment Survey. At fifteen he was offering investment advice to the pension plan of his grandfather’s publishing company. He graduated from Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, serving as class president for three years. It was during his high school years he decided on finance as a career.
Corbin graduated from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics with a B average. Teachers remember him as knowing financial markets and data, while being a little eccentric. He often credits the broad based liberal arts education he received at TCU for his success, in particular his eighteen hours of English classes. During his time at TCU, he served as Portfolio Manager of the William C. Conner Foundation, which was the nation’s largest student run investment fund. While at TCU, Corbin developed a love of Fort Worth and settled there after graduation.
CAREER
Corbin entered the workplace by working as an investment manager for MTRUST, the trust operation for Dallas-based banking giant MCORP. After three years of working for the firm, Corbin opened Corbin & Company in 1992. Among the firm’s first significant clients were Central Bank & Trust, the largest state-chartered bank in Texas at the time, and the Mary Moody Northen Foundation in Galveston. Corbin & Company quickly developed a reputation for outstanding results. In 1994, Nelson’s Directory of Investment Managers ranked Corbin & Company as the #8 value manager in the country out of 258 firms. Pension & Investment Performance Evaluation Reports (PIPER) ranked Corbin & Company the #1 mid-cap value manager in the country. The firm’s investment results attracted the attention of large institutional and individual investors throughout the country and in 1997; the firm was hired by the Oregon Investment Council as part of its emerging managers program. By that time, people were comparing Corbin to another famous Midwest value manager, Warren Buffett.
The 1998 time period marked a career low point for Corbin, as the value style fell dramatically out of favor and many of Corbin’s under-followed value stocks fell deeper out of favor. During this period of time, Corbin became an activist investor, eventually filing 13-D in a variety of companies such as Steel of West Virginia and Durakon Industries. Many of these companies eventually sold out or pursued value-enhancing moves per Corbin’s suggestions. It was also during this time period that Marathon Partners was formed with the idea of taking large stakes in small, publicly traded companies. Marathon was eventually distributed to its partners after a number of years.
After the bursting of the technology bubble in early 2000, value stocks began a long climb back into favor. Corbin found himself directly affected by the events of September 11, 2001. While the markets plummeted and investors panicked, the publicly-traded Corbin Small-Cap Value Fund skyrocketed, as several of the stocks came into favor due to the events of 9/11. Corbin was profiled in a December 17th article in Business Week entitled “Small Wonders”, about small, relatively unknown firms that were delivering big results for fund shareholders. That year the Corbin Small-Cap Value Fund was named the #1 mutual fund in the country by Lipper and #3 by Morningstar, attaining a coveted “Five Star” ranking. The fund was eventually merged into the Dreman Small-Cap Value Fund in 2005.
Over the next several years, Corbin focused his efforts on other Corbin & Company-related pursuits in the areas of software, food technology, newspapers, and structured cabling, as well as the core investment management business. Investment results at Corbin & Company still drew investor interest, despite its conservative orientation in a market that increasingly disregarded risk. The market disruptions of 2008 brought renewed interest in Corbin & Company’s value style of investing. Owing to exceptional investor interest on the West Coast, Corbin & Company announced it had opened an office in the Los Angeles area in July 2009, marking its first office outside of Fort Worth Texas.
PERSONAL LIFE
A noted family man, Mr. Corbin is currently single, has never been married, and has no children. Corbin’s father, David F. Corbin, is currently employed at Corbin & Company as the chief financial/chief operations officer. Besides his parents in Fort Worth, his sister lives in the Denver area, along with his niece. Corbin is also an Episcopalian godfather to a teenage boy in the Fort Worth area, as well as a Catholic godfather to a teenage girl in the Chicago area. His mother has been known to travel with him, questioning corporate managements during his meeting with them.
Corbin has been active in a large number of organizations and activities concerning children and education. Besides offering highly sought-after internships at Corbin & Company, Corbin has taught security analysis at TCU, sat on the Board of The Entrepreneurial Studies Program at the M.J. Neeley School of Business at TCU, the Capital Campaign Committee of Brite Divinity School at TCU, and was Co-Chair of the Dr. Stan Block Endowed Chair Committee. He has been recognized for his support of the Circle T Girl Scouts Council of Fort Worth, Happy Hill Farm, the 4-H Program of the Fort Worth Stock Show, Horses & America’s Youth, and TCU. Mr. Corbin has also been an active supporter of Dallas Baptist University, helping the University organize, promote, and underwrite its recent “Great Thinkers in Finance” Program, which brings great investment minds from across the country to speak.
Corbin’s hobbies include studying Latin, ballroom dancing, numismatics, walking/working out, and being with friends. Mr. Corbin attained the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation at the age of 25, was named to the initial class of the Fort Worth Business Press’ 40 Under 40, and is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists and the Social Investment Forum. Corbin also currently sits on the boards of First Point Residential Communications, Rudisill, Inc., and Fort Worth-San Diego Investments, LLC.
MEDIA
Corbin has been featured in numerous publications. His life story has been told in the Wall Street Journal, *The Wall Street Transcript. ["Money Manager Inteviews".] "Wall Street Journal", May 16, 1994. *The Wall Street Transcript. ["Money Manager Inteviews".] "Wall Street Journal", August 16, 1999. *Opdyke, Jeff D. ["Managers Select Same Texas Stocks That Could Shine in Any Weather".], "Wall Street Journal", July 17, 1996. *Weil, Jonathan. ["Heard in Texas".], "Wall Street Journal", November 5, 1997., *Opdyke, Jeff D. ["Investors Shouldn't Sit Out the Second Half of the Year."], "Wall Street Journal", July 8, 2001. and he has been quoted in publications including Ticker Magazine, Forbes, the Christian Science Monitor, and Investment Advisor, *Glasgall, Wiliam and Camporeale, Liana. ["Only the Best".], "Investment Advisor", February 2002. as well as being part of a feature article in Business Week ["Mutual Funds: The Worst May Not Be Over"]., "BusinessWeek", October 8, 2001. Corbin is often quoted in *Rublin, Lauren R. ["All Pumped Up".] "Barron’s" Big Money Poll, July 29, 1997. and *Alpert, Bill. ["Giving New Meaning to Green Revolution."] April 30, 2007. and most recently in the *Willoughby, Jack. "Barron’s" Big Money Poll", November 24, 2008. and *Willoughby, Jack. ["Barron’s" Big Money Poll",] April 27, 2009. Corbin has been published, writing a weekly investment column for the Fort Worth Business Press, as well as writing several articles for non-financial professionals in Practitioner Publishing publications.
Corbin has contributed to radio spots for Bloomberg Radio and given market analysis and weekly “wrap-up” for Bloomberg Radio during their popular Friday afternoon drive time show in the New York/New Jersey area. He also was a guest on the Benjamin F. Dover Show, on the largest A.M. station in Los Angeles.
His television appearances have been also well received. He has been featured on the local Dallas/Fort Worth CBS and Fox affiliates, including “Good Day,” which is the #1 show in its time slot. He has appeared over the years on Bloomberg Television and CNBC, commenting about various stocks, industries, and the market in general. On June 8, 2009, he appeared on the Fox Business Network’s “Fox Business Morning” with Jenna Lee and Connell McShane commenting on a variety of subjects. He has also appeared on the PBS show “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and “Dateline NBC” concerning food irradiation.

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