Lehrer Management Co. (Sole Proprietor) was founded by Norman H. and Lenore R. Lehrer in 1979. Beginning in 1949, they were investors in the stock market. Norman Lehrer’s initial occupation, however, was that of a physicist, having received Bachelors (1951) and Masters (1954) Degrees in that subject. An investment policy was evolved between 1949 and 1961 by Norman Lehrer, which provided acceptable returns. This policy was a contrarian one; a diversified portfolio was constructed, primarily composed of stocks which were out of favor and usually selling at low price/earnings ratios. Over a period of time, while a few stocks declined and several were unchanged, the ones that advanced provided the overall portfolio with a reasonable return. Such portfolios underperformed the market averages in up years but outperformed it in down years.

In the late 50’s and early 60’s Norman H. Lehrer invented and developed the first radar display tube which could be viewed in daylight. Prior to that, pilots viewed the dim radarscope through a hood, which required dark adaptation of the eye taking 30 seconds to one minute to occur. This delay in target detection not only made the aircraft vulnerable to hostile missiles, but increased the threat of collision with the ground, especially for low flying aircraft. This tube became a feature of the airborne radar systems of the Hughes Aircraft Co. L.A. Hyland, who managed the Hughes Aircraft Co., Inc. for Howard Hughes, directed Norman Lehrer to make presentations to engineers in the various operating divisions of the Hughes Aircraft Company concerning use of the tube. At the end of his presentation, he would inquire if anyone wanted to hear a brief presentation on opportunities in the stock market. If there was interest, he would describe some of the opportunities in out-of-favor and neglected stocks, and write a few suggestions on the blackboard. These stocks frequently gained in price. In 1965, a Hughes mathematician, who was retiring, asked if Norman Lehrer would manage his money, which he agreed to do, free of charge. A few others followed.

In 1970, Mr. Lehrer joined Watkins-Johnson Co. where additional people became non-paying clients. In 1977, it was decided to charge a fee for service to those who had become clients.

Norman H. Lehrer was active in a professional society of display engineers entitled, “The Society for Information Display.” In 1978, he was invited to be the luncheon speaker, who usually gave a non-technical speech. Mr. Lehrer chose “An Engineering Approach to the Stock Market or How to Get Rich Slowly Maybe” as his topic. The Field Sales Manager of Watkins-Johnson Co., who was suppose to attend the presentation, missed it. A few days later, the manager called Norman Lehrer and asked if he could come to his home to hear the speech, and that he would like to bring a young lady with him on their first date. A day was agreed upon and the presentation was made to the Field Sales manager and the young lady.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the young lady stood up and said that the medical personnel at the hospital where she worked as a float nurse needed to hear this presentation. She offered to go through the hospital and invite various personnel to come to the Lehrer’s living room and hear the presentation. After this plan was agreed to, monthly meetings were held for about the next year. Most of the attendees were nurses. Even though the presentation was not a sales presentation many of these attendees requested that LMC manage their funds.

Most accounts opened initially were small accounts, ranging from $2,000 to $25,000. With the passage of time, the clients started to refer their friends who had significantly more money to invest. The assets under management grew from under $1 million in 1980 to about $50 million by the end of 1992. The workload was now too great to be performed by Norman and Lenore Lehrer without additional support. In 1992, an employee was hired and the operation was moved from the Lehrer’s home to an office in Cupertino, California.