Investment Committee

Portfolio Manager

Steve Scruggs, CFA

Director of Research & Senior Portfolio Manager
Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund QRSVX
Queens Road Value Fund QRVLX

Steve Scruggs, CFA is the Director of Research & Senior Portfolio Manager for Bragg Financial Inc., which manages both the Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund and the Queens Road Value Fund.

Since joining Bragg Financial Advisors in 1999, Mr. Scruggs is directly responsible for the daily oversight of all investment research activities. Mr. Scruggs advises on more than $250 million in assets.

Prior to his work with Bragg Financial, Mr. Scruggs worked as Product Manager for GMAC Insurance and Reliance Insurance Companies.

In addition to his management responsibilities, Mr. Scruggs joins the rest of the management team and employees at Bragg Financial in actively pursuing civic activities that give back to the community. Mr. Scruggs sits on the Board of Directors of the Johnston YMCA and the Bethlehem Center of Charlotte. The Charlotte Observer described Bragg Financial as a “small company with a big heart.” Bragg Financial provides support to the community through both financial sponsorships and active participation in a multitude of philanthropic projects.

Mr. Scruggs received his BA from North Carolina State University in 1992 and his MBA from Wake Forest University in 1996.

Mr. Scruggs has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the North Carolina Society of Financial Analysts.

Investment Committee

Benton S. Bragg, CFA, CFP, ChFC

President, CEO and Chairman of the Investment Committee

Benton is the President and CEO of Bragg Financial Advisors and is involved in all aspects of the company's operations. As Chairman of the Investment Committee, Benton develops firm-wide portfolio strategy and investment allocation targets. Benton graduated cum laude with a BA from Wake Forest University in 1990 and he earned his MBA from Wake Forest University in 1997. He earned the CFP and ChFC designations in 1995 and earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2000. Prior to joining Bragg Financial Advisors in 1993, Benton worked with Bank of America for three years as a Branch Manager in Burlington, North Carolina. Benton is a member of the CFA Institute and the North Carolina Society of Financial Analysts.

J. Frank Bragg, Jr.

Chairman, Member of Investment Committee

Frank founded Bragg Financial Advisors in 1964. Since founding the firm, he has advised countless individuals and corporations in the areas of financial and estate planning, investment management and corporate benefit plans. Today, clients of Bragg Financial Advisors benefit tremendously from his vision, long-term perspective and real life experience.

Frank grew up in Oxford, North Carolina and graduated from Wake Forest University in 1961. Upon graduating from college, Frank immediately began his 40-year career in financial services, first working for Integon Life Insurance in Winston-Salem. In 1963, he moved his family to Charlotte and formed his own firm, which eventually became Bragg Financial Advisors.

Frank is actively involved in the Charlotte Community. He is the co-founder and board member of Right Moves for Youth which serves disadvantaged youth, a co-founder of Kids Repay, a former or present board member of Community Food Rescue, Presbyterian Hospital Foundation, Catawba Lands Conservancy, The Central YMCA, The Family Center, Gifts in Kind, Lees McRae College Board of Advisors and Wake Forest University Board of Visitors. In addition, Frank is an Eagle Scout and a former Scoutmaster of Troop 116 in Charlotte.

Suzanne Wittebort

Portfolio Manager, Member of Investment Committee

Suzanne Wittebort is a portfolio analyst and member of our investment committee. Prior to joining Bragg Financial in 2004 she spent nine years with Moody’s Investors Service’s publications division, spun off in 1998 as Mergent, Inc. With Moody’s and then Mergent she served as editor in charge of investment handbooks including Moody’s Handbook of Common Stocks, Moody’s Handbook of Nasdaq Stocks, and Moody’s Handbook of Dividend Achievers. Before joining Moody’s she spent two years as a senior editor for Business North Carolina Magazine. Before moving to North Carolina in 1992, she spent eleven years with Institutional Investor Magazine in New York and London in a variety of posts, including assistant managing editor and London bureau chief, and for several years oversaw the magazine’s banking and corporate finance coverage. With colleagues she was the recipient of a 1986 Overseas Press Club of America award for business reporting from overseas for a package of stories on London’s expansion as a financial center. In 1991 she also served as an adjunct instructor for a course on international economic issues offered jointly by Columbia University’s graduate schools of business and journalism. Suzanne began her career in business journalism as a reporter for Fortune from 1976 to 1980, where she worked on a wide variety of stories and on the compilation of the 1977 Fortune 500. Prior to joining Fortune she was a researcher for Time-Life Books on the American Wilderness and World War II series. Suzanne graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1973, with honors in American Studies.