About Our Firm

Eric Craig McDonald is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of McDonald Capital Management, a registered investment advisory firm located in Lubbock, Texas. Eric founded the firm in 1990 with the basic concept of providing institutional-type advice to small investors for a fee, an emerging concept at the time. Starting with approximately $800,000 in assets, the firm now manages over $190 million in equity, fixed-income and mutual fund/ETF assets for 180+ taxable, non-taxable and institutional clients.

In 2005, Eric, with partners Jeffrey Mercer, Ph.D., and Scott Hein, Ph.D., distinguished professors at Texas Tech University, formed Islay Capital Partners, LP, to provide management services to the Islay Opportunity Fund I, LP, a private investment partnership that was in operation until January 2008.

Eric received a BBA-Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985 and an MBA from Texas Tech University in 1987. He was awarded the CFA Charter in 1993 from the CFA Institute.

Eric has served his community in a number of ways including the Greater Lubbock Rotary Club (past president), Southwest AMBUCS, South Plains Council of the Boy Scouts of America (board), Ranching Heritage Association Investment Committee, Texas Tech Student Managed Fund Advisory Committee, the Junior League of Lubbock Foundation, and the Community Foundation of West Texas. He has also served as the “Big Chief” of the Indian Campers of Lubbock and was formerly the President of the Lubbock Country Club.

In addition to his local involvement, Eric has had the privilege of serving as an investment advisor to the Permanent School Fund of Texas and was appointed by Governor Rick Perry as a Trustee (2009-2013) to the Texas State Teachers Retirement Fund.

Raised on a cotton farm in West Texas, Eric now enjoys golf, water sports, traveling and visiting his sons, Trevor and Ian.

Jeff Mercer holds the Centennial Bank Chair in Finance and is Director of the Institute for Banking and Financial Studies in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. His areas of expertise include security valuation, investment management, risk management, and derivative securities. Dr. Mercer teaches courses in these areas at the undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral levels. While at Texas Tech, Dr. Mercer has received the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award and twice received the College of Business’ Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award.

Prior to joining Texas Tech, Dr. Mercer was Vice President and Director of Research at Ibbotson Associates, a Chicago-based global investment consulting firm. He was also on the Graduate Business Faculty at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, where he held positions as faculty member, Finance Department Chair, and Acting Associate Dean of the College of Business.

Dr. Mercer, or press coverage of his work, has appeared on or in Forbes, ABC World News This Morning, CNN.com, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, USAToday, SmartMoney, Financial Times, The MotleyFool, Fox Business News, and The CBS Early Show.

Dr. Mercer has received competitive research awards from The Research Foundation of the CFA Institute, The Chicago Investment Analysts Society, The Foundation for Managed Derivatives Research, and the Kemper Foundation. His research has appeared in leading outlets such as the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Futures Markets, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Wealth Management, Journal of Fixed Income, Journal of Investing, Journal of Alternative Investments, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Financial Review.

Yolanda Roe has over 20 years’ experience in client relations. Yolanda earned her Associates degree in 1987 in the field of Computer Information Systems, and in 2001 received her Bachelor of Science from Lubbock Christian University. Yolanda thrives on helping people and believes in representing them to the best of her ability. Yolanda was the first point of contact for 450 clients in her previous employment, and now does the same for McDonald Capital Management. Yolanda has been with McDonald Capital Management since 2007 and excels in developing and maintaining client relationships. Yolanda grew up in Meadow, TX and believes it is important to never forget your roots and to treat everyone like family.

Tyler Sturdivant received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Texas Tech University in 2017. While at Texas Tech, Tyler was involved in research and analysis for the Student Managed Investment Fund which is where he became passionate about securities markets and investment management. After interning at McDonald Capital Management in 2016, Tyler was hired as an analyst upon graduation. Before attending Texas Tech, Tyler played baseball at Utah Valley University and Lubbock Christian University.

Tyler earned his CFA charter in November of 2020. Tyler enjoys studying data analysis techniques, derivative securities and operational programming.

A Shallowater, TX native, Tyler currently lives with his wife Ashlen, daughter Evelyn, and their 2 dogs; Boston and Tatum.

Mark Hayden joined McDonald Capital Management in 2018 as a Client Relations Assistant. Prior to joining McDonald Capital Management, Mark worked as a Pharmaceutical salesman for 20+ years.

Mark enjoys attending all Texas Tech sporting events and skiing with his Dad.