2018 Speaker: Alumni panel

Mr. Thompson founded Vilas Capital Management, LLC in 2010, and has been its Chief Executive Officer since inception. Prior to this, Mr. Thompson was the founder, President and Chief Investment Officer for Mortgage Assurance Corporation (now NMI Holdings, Inc.) in 2009.

From 1993-2009, Mr. Thompson was Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for Thompson Investment Management, Inc. Mr. Thompson was an officer of the Thompson Plumb Funds, Inc. from 1995-2009 and was President and COO from 2004-09. Further, Mr. Thompson was the lead portfolio manager of the Thompson Plumb Growth fund from 1996-2009 and the Thompson Plumb Bond Fund from 1999-2009. In 2012, Mr. Thompson co-founded Thompson Kane & Company, LLC, a mortgage banking firm based in Madison.

He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago. His investment career began in 1993 and he has been actively involved in the management of mutual funds since 1994. Mr. Thompson is also a CFA charterholder. John was also a speaker at the 2015 Investment Conference.