Fund Manager Zachary Savas' Key To Success In Investing: 'Do Your Homework'

Based out of Troy, Michigan, Zachary Savas is the president and founder of

, a privately held entity that strives to create value through active ownership of businesses and advisory engagements.

Savas and his team utilize creative management practices, productivity gains and growth as their primary drivers to create value. He is also president of Production Spring, LLC and chairman of Iwerk and Fire CATT, LLC.

Zachary Savas sat down for an exclusive Interview with Benzinga, giving insight into his background and investing philosophy.

In this first portion of the three-part series, Savas explains the importance of research for success.

We are a collection of investors investing our own money that are active in the businesses that we own. What makes us unique is that we are willing to go out and find new partners to run businesses and back new people. Myself and all my partners share that love of learning, turning over every rock of the businesses that we are planning to invest in. What makes our firm different is that we all have a unique collection of experiences that we bring.

As former leaders in different businesses, we learned how to go out and get purchase orders – how to get product out the door.

As a group, we understand what the management team, what the executives and what the workers are going through; and because of our financial knowledge, we can make a difference in the companies we invest in, making their businesses more efficient and profitable.

The importance of doing the upfront homework for sure. The hard work to know as much as you need to know about a company before you make any decision to invest or work with them. I spent countless hours studying the companies I worked with, the topics that I was expected to know about. That way I went into a meeting as the most confident guy in the room. What I can't stand are workers that just "move paper." They don't do anything more than go through the motions, filling in the blanks, without any fundamental analysis of the company or topic that they are covering. To this day I truly enjoy learning about a company I am planning to invest in, beyond the financial statements, and that has given me an advantage over the years.

I was always interested in learning how to put your hard-earned money to work, always exploring new and creative areas to invest in. I always wanted my money to be growing at a steady rate over time, thus I initially stayed away from riskier investments. Starting my career as a Mergers and Acquisitions Analyst at Citigroup taught me about how businesses operate apart from how to invest in them. I got to travel around the world, speaking with company executives, learning how they drove their businesses to new heights.