Rebelliously thoughtful for over

40 Years

Why Invest

Efficient Growth in 3 Words: "Disciplined Common Sense"

Running Oak’s Efficient Growth equity strategy seeks long term exponential growth of capital through maximizing earnings growth and mitigating drawdowns.
Efficient Growth helps clients focus on traits like earnings growth, attractive valuations, profitability, and mean reversion. Maybe more importantly, it helps clients AVOID traits like overvaluation, unprofitability, insolvency, concentration, and emotion.
A natural result of discipline and self-evident simplicity is reliability.

Risk vs. Return, Gross (Sept 2013 – June 2026)

Differentiated Approach and Construction

Mid cap stocks are the middle child of the equity market. Because they are historically under-owned, they are the cheapest they’ve been relative to large caps in 23 years.
Concentration risk is real. Households have more in stocks than any time in history; roughly 60% of the equity market is Passive; Passive is more concentrated than ever.
Running Oak utilizes a highly disciplined, rules-based process, resulting in a portfolio that is reliable, repeatable, and unemotional.

How To Invest

Efficient Growth is currently available as an SMA and ETF (for more information on our ETF, please visit runningoaketfs.com).

Rules Are Meant To Be Invested In—Especially When They're This Time-Tested

Using our time-tested core philosophy developed over four decades, Running Oak Capital applies a principled, rules-based approach that seeks to overcome the limitations of human judgement. Efficient Growth is built upon 3 longstanding, common sense principles: seek earnings growth, avoid overvalued companies, focus on minimizing downside risk.

Ultimately, we endeavor to achieve outcomes that our clients can rely on across all market cycles.

Fortune Favors The Thoughtful

Running Oak is founded upon the proven Efficient Growth strategy, pioneered by Gary Cogswell

Mid 1970s

As a senior analyst, Gary Cogswell recognized that funds consistently failed to outperform benchmarks, primarily because of limited human decision-making and the shortcomings of traditional discounted cash flow analysis.

1976

Developed a unique relative valuation methodology, a key element of the Efficient Growth investment process.

1976 – 1987

Pioneered the rules-based Efficient Growth strategy – engineered to overcome human bias and capitalize on self-evident factors to identify undervalued growth.

2013

Seth Cogswell formed Running Oak to harness the strategy’s potential for individual and institutional investors.

2023

Launch of our ETF, listed on NASDAQ.

An Accomplished Management Team

A Family Business With A Focus on Fundamentals

Seth L. Cogswell Founding Partner and Portfolio Manager

20+ years of industry experience and Running Oak Founder

Seth is the Managing Partner and Founder of Running Oak Capital. He is Co-Portfolio Manager of Efficient Growth. Prior to founding Running Oak, Seth was a trader and portfolio manager of the Trillium Multi Horizon Fund, a multi-strategy long/short hedge fund.

Seth received his MBA from The Wharton School for which he was a recipient of the Goldman Sachs H.R. Young Scholarship. He received his undergraduate degree in Decision Making Sciences/Operations Research from the University of North Carolina.

Jeff Broders, CFA Chief Operating Officer, Chief Compliance Officer

15+ years of industry experience

Jeff is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Running Oak Capital. Prior to joining Running Oak in September 2021, Jeff was the head of US Product Strategy & Development for Principal Global Investors, a multi-boutique investment management firm.

Jeff is a CFA® charterholder. He received a Master of Financial Management degree from Drake University and his BA degree from the University of Northern Iowa.

Jena Cogswell Head of Marketing

20 years of industry experience

Prior to joining Running Oak in December 2024, Jena was the Chief Marketing Officer at Bell Bank. Jena began her career at Goldman Sachs Asset Management as a Financial Analyst in New York City. She has also held strategic roles at JP Morgan, Providence Equity Partners and Principal Asset Management. Jena received her BA degree in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina.

Gary F. Cogswell, CFA Advisor

40+ years of experience and creator of our core Efficient Growth philosophy
Gary is the primary architect of the Efficient Growth style of equity management, a philosophy he developed in the late 1970s.

Gary began his career at Wachovia Bank where he was later a Senior Equity Analyst. Following Wachovia, he served as Investment Department Manager and Portfolio Manager for Huntington National Bank. He was later appointed to Director of Research for Boys, Arnold and Company. Gary is a CFA holder, and received both his MBA and BS degrees from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Our Partners Help Us Find Opportunity Along The Road Less Traded

Palmetto Advisory Group Due diligence and marketing firm, founded in 2008.
Alternative Core Solutions Highly skilled marketing professionals helping clients implement unique investment philosophies.
Advyzon Platform management partner enabling Running Oak to provide exceptional service for a large number of clients
ACA Compliance Group GIPS compliance verification and investment performance services
Cerulean Securities Compliance, LLC Professional compliance consulting
Brightflow Technologies Managed IT and cyber security

A Disciplined Approach

Running Oak’s Efficient Growth strategy is a portfolio with a foundation of that which matters most to clients: Risk – the risk of loss, to be precise.

The investment process is highly disciplined, repeatable, and unemotional. Our rules-based approach does not rely on human discretion and objectively manages volatility and captures opportunities.

Key Investing Principles

Seek earnings growth An asset consistently growing in value, intrinsically and independent of market-driven price swings, provides a desirable tailwind to long-term return.

Attractive valuations “Buy low. Sell high.” One variable determines return: Price. Never overpay. Paying more than an asset is worth is a sure way to destroy value.

Lower downside risk Nothing destroys long-term exponential growth like large drawdowns. Mitigating drawdowns helps achieve higher cumulative returns over time.

Efficient Growth Is A Common Sense Strategy That Strives to Avoid Risk

Rules-based investment process, promotes discipline and objectivity, eliminating emotion from the investment management process.
Time-tested, Efficient Growth has been executed for over 30 years and through multiple economic cycles.
Available as an ETF – visit www.runningoaketfs.com for more information.
Available in separately managed accounts, offering full transparency, daily liquidity, lower expenses and greater control over taxes.
Currently Available on these platforms: Schwab, Fidelity, Envestnet, RBC, SmartX, Mutual Advisors, Interactive Brokers, Osaic, and others

> Download Factsheet

* Since inception: as of June 30, 2026. Net performance reflects a management fee of 0.5%. In the event this strategy is offered within a third party’s wrap program, the net performance shown here may be further reduced by an additional amount equal to the fees charged by the third party. For example, if the third-party charges 2% for their wrap program, net performance would be reduced by both the 0.50% fee to Running Oak Capital as well as the 2% charged by the third party (total of 2.50%). Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Our Conviction & Discipline Have Stood The Test of Time

Click Below To Read More About Thoughtful Investing Against Potentially Reckless Trends

For a more compreshensive collection of our most recent letters on NASDAQ, visit our author page.

05/30/25

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05/23/25

If You Ain't First, Yer Last

05/22/25

This Is What To Do Next In Stocks

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04/24/25

Do You Smell That?

03/31/25

Marge O'Clock

Download White Paper

03/27/25

Consistently Not Stupid

For More Information About Running Oak Capital and Our Efficient Growth Strategy, Please Contact Us

[email protected]

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Investing involves risk including possible loss of principal.

Before investing, carefully consider a fund’s investment objective, risks, charges and expenses contained in the prospectus. Read carefully before investing.

Statements regarding the hole in the typical equity portfolio reflect the opinion of Running Oak Capital on the average investor’s equity portfolio allocation and should not be construed as investment advice. This is based on informal feedback and experience from interactions with investors and other financial professionals.

The Ulcer Performance Index is a measure of a portfolio’s risk-adjusted return. It quantifies the degree to which an investor is rewarded for a certain amount of downside risk. Said another way, it quantifies a level of returns given the same level of downside risk. Comparisons relative to market indexes illustrate the Ulcer Performance Index of the Efficient Growth composite divided by that of the market index.

The source for Mid Cap stocks being at their cheapest in 25 years relative to Large is Yardeni Research.

Downside Risk shown in the “Risk vs Return” illustration is calculated by averaging drawdowns at each month-end during the observation period.