Thomas Kirchner, CFA, is portfolio manager of the Quaker Event Arbitrage Fund, a mutual fund that uses merger arbitrage as one of its investment strategies. He launched this fund's predecessor, the Pennsylvania Avenue Event-Driven Fund, as the first event-driven mutual fund in 2003. Previously he worked in fixed income trading at Banque Nationale de Paris S.A. and as a financial engineer for Fannie Mae. He holds a B.Sc. from King's College, University of London, a Diplôme from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.