Noted Financial Analyst Lauren Rich Fine Joins Howard & O'Brien Associates

CLEVELAND, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Lauren Rich Fine, CFA, whose highly influential research as one of the nation's leading financial analysts helped shape investors' decisions for nearly two decades, is applying her research and analytical expertise in a new direction – executive search.

Fine has joined Howard & O'Brien Associates, a boutique executive search firm that serves leading companies and organizations with a particular emphasis on the "fit" between the candidate and the company.

"In many ways, a successful executive search is the result of a mutual investment decision on the part of the company and the candidate as they invest in one another's future," said Fine.  "I am excited about this tremendous opportunity to apply my relationship network and my passion for research to help bring together organizations and strong executives who can succeed."

Fine joins a team of partners – Lee Ann Howard, John O'Brien, Tom Kroeger and Tina Hauptner – with broad experience within Fortune 500 corporations, including human resources, general management and marketing leadership and executive positions.

"With her keen financial perspective and broad industry background, Lauren broadens the core strengths of our team," said Howard.  "Moreover, she possesses the interpersonal skills that are essential to building relationships and to the personalized and responsive service we provide."

A multidisciplinary firm serving a broad industry base, Howard & O'Brien Associates specializes in recruiting for boards of directors and chief-level executive positions – chief executive officers, chief operations officers, chief financial officers and others – and their direct reports.

Major clients include ACCO Brands, Avery Dennison Corporation, Borders Books, Dick's Sporting Goods, First Merit Corporation, Invacare Corporation, Parker-Hannifin Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Company, STERIS Corporation, The Timken Company and University Hospitals.

"Successful recruitment is more than a search – it's a fit," said O'Brien.  "We pride ourselves on getting to know each company's culture and, more specifically, the particular operating environment and the colleagues with whom a prospective executive will be working."

Fine was previously a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch in Equity Research.  A 19-year veteran, she covered the publishing, information, for-profit education, advertising and online industries. She was a ranked member of the Institutional Investor All-American Research Team for 14 years, holding the number-one position for 11 years.

She currently serves as a Practitioner in Residence at Kent State University's School of Journalism & Mass Communication and was also, until recently, the Director of Research at ContentNext, an organization focused on media-related newsletters and conferences.  She holds an MBA from the Stern School of Management (NYU) and a BA in Psychology/Economics from Tufts University.

Fine is on the boards of Brand Muscle, the Cleveland Film Society, the Chautauqua Foundation, Dolan Company, iGuiders, In Counsel with Women, Laurel School and Urban Community School (executive committee), a not-for-profit school for low-income families in Cleveland. She is on the advisory boards of Dix & Eaton, a Cleveland-based public relations firm, Creative Loafing and MedCityNews.  She has also served on the Cleveland Jewish News board (executive committee), the leadership board of the Lerner Research Institute and the Poynter Institute advisory board, and on committees at Citizens Academy, The Cleveland Museum of Art and The Gathering Place. She was a member of the Leadership Cleveland class of 2007.

Howard & O'Brien Associates is a Certified Women's Business Enterprise.  For more information, visit www.howardobrien.com.

SOURCE Howard & O'Brien Associates