The Meridian Value Fund has a deep and experienced management team. Rick Aster has worked on the fund since its inception in 1994, Jamie England since August 2001, Larry Cordisco since September 2003 and Jim O'Connor since January 2004. All members of the management team personally own shares in the Fund. Detailed profiles of the team are provided below.

Richard F. Aster, Jr. was born in Southern California. Formal education included undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mr. Aster worked for the U. S. Treasury Department and invested privately before joining Newburger, Loeb & Company, a New York Stock Exchange firm, in 1970. He worked for Newburger, Loeb for almost two years as a West Coast analyst before joining Robertson, Colman, Siebel & Weisel (which became Montgomery Securities and subsequently Banc of America Securities, Montgomery Division).

Mr. Aster’s responsibilities at Montgomery Securities included formulating the firm’s economic overview and investment strategy. His primary areas of research included emerging growth stocks and special situations covering a broad number of industries. Mr. Aster successfully managed accounts on a discretionary basis during this period. He left Montgomery Securities in March 1977 to form Aster Investment Management Co., Inc. Mr. Aster started the Meridian Growth Fund in 1984, the Meridian Value Fund in 1994 and the Meridian Equity Income Fund in 2005.

James H. England, Jr., CFA
Formal education included an undergraduate degree in commerce from McGill University and a master's degree in business administration from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Mr. England is also a CFA charter holder. Mr. England worked for three years at The Seidler Companies, a Los Angeles-based regional brokerage firm, initially as a research associate and then as an analyst covering the consumer and retail sectors. While pursuing his master's degree, Mr. England worked in the equity sales and trading department at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. Following business school and immediately prior to joining Aster Investment Management, Mr. England spent two years at Toronto Dominion Securities as an equity derivatives trader. James H. England, Jr. joined Aster Investment Management in August, 2001.

Larry E. Cordisco
Formal education includes an undergraduate degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara, a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University, and a master's degree in business administration from Columbia Business School. Prior to the Meridian Fund, Mr. Cordisco worked as a public policy analyst in Washington D.C, then for three years as a business consultant at Accenture. Following business school, Mr. Cordisco spent three years at Banc of America Securities covering broadcasting, IT services, and software stocks in the firm's equity research department in New York and San Francisco. Mr. Cordisco joined Aster Investment Management in September, 2003.

James J. O'Connor, CFA
Formal education includes an undergraduate degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley and a master's degree in business administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Mr. O’Conner is also a CFA charter holder. Prior to the Meridian Fund, Mr. O'Connor worked as an examiner at NASD Regulation in San Francisco for two years, then as a compliance associate at Thomas Weisel Partners in San Francisco for a year. Following business school, Mr. O'Connor worked at RBC Dain Rauscher covering electronic manufacturing services stocks in the firm's equity research department in San Francisco. Mr. O'Connor joined Aster Investment Management in January, 2004.