Nathan E. "Ned" Davis (born 1945/1946, Nashville), is an American financial analyst, finance author, and co-founder of the Ned Davis Research Group (NDRG), a data-driven investment research company based in Venice, Florida.
[1] He dropped out of Harvard Business School as he found he was more interested in finance and investment than management, and returned to Nashville to spend 12 years working at the regional investment bank, J.C. Bradford & Co.[1] At J.C. Bradford, Davis met Ed Mendel, and the two became interested in the idea of using computers to analyze investment data, however, their request in 1979 to the company for US$30,000 to buy a mainframe computer was declined.
[3] At the time, Davis was a partner in the firm, and his investment views were covered nationally in publications such as The Washington Post.
[6] In 1980, Davis and Mendel co-founded the Ned Davis Research Group (NDRG) in Venice, Florida starting with 5 employees, to focus on computer data analysis driven investment research and advice for trading firms.
[18] Davis has been described as a follower of contrarian investing, who warns against situations of very strong consensus or herd mentality.