Jim Paulsen,

Jim Paulsen, the former chief investment strategist with the huge asset management group of Wells Fargo, has joined investment-research boutique Leuthold Group in the same capacity. Paulsen, 59, wrapped up a 20-year career in May at Wells Capital Management, which manages assets in excess of $300 billion. He said he looks forward to working for a smaller, independent shop. A plain-talk economist from a small town in Iowa, Paulsen earned a doctorate in economics from Iowa State University. He developed a national following with his monthly economic-and-markets commentary, and regular appearances on business-cable channels CNBC and Bloomberg Television. Near the bottom of the Great Recession in 2009, Paulsen went cautiously bullish on the stock market, amid skepticism, and helped investors to profits as the market soared to record levels. Paulsen saw federal intervention to bolster the financial system and a low-interest money policy by the Federal Reserve as confidence builders early in the slow recovery of the U.S. economy that continues. Paulsen, who works from Minneapolis, said he's looking forward to less travel and more thinking and writing.