Phillip W. Cook serves as Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner of SouthernSun Asset Management since 2006, leading the Investment Team and responsible for all aspects of research and analysis, portfolio construction, and risk management. The firm was originally founded in 1989 by Michael W. Cook, who previously served as CEO and Chief Investment Officer. SouthernSun is an employee-owned Delaware Limited Liability Company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, with approximately 17 employees as of March 2025. The firm has been registered with the SEC as an investment adviser since its founding and maintains a disciplined, research-intensive approach to investment management. The company serves 99 accounts across various client types including individuals, investment companies, pension plans, and charitable organizations. SouthernSun has managed assets ranging from current levels of $834.9 million up to historical peaks of over $1.9 billion in 2011.

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SouthernSun's investment philosophy rests on four enduring pillars: financial flexibility, management adaptability, niche dominance, and valuation discipline. The firm focuses on building a portfolio of attractively valued, high quality businesses with strong market positions and financial flexibility, led by management teams that are good allocators of capital. They believe there is no substitute for knowing each company they invest in as if they own the entire company. The investment process emphasizes extensive due diligence on potential investment opportunities, evaluating factors such as competitive positioning, management quality, and financial strength. An integral part of this process is knowing management and viewing the company through the eyes of its management team as well as an objective outside investor. They invest with a long-term time horizon in niche-dominant, attractively valued companies with financial flexibility and well-fitted management teams. The firm believes that value, properly understood and patiently pursued, remains constant, representing the promise of active management at the heart of SouthernSun's approach.

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