Brentz East grew up surrounded by market talk and investment chatter—no surprise when your dad runs Yorktown Funds. But joining the family firm? That was never the plan. She imagined life as a French teacher, maybe a computer scientist, not a portfolio manager.
So how did she end up developing the screening and analytics programs for Yorktown’s equity funds?
In this post, Brentz shares the unexpected turns that brought her into investing, the sibling dynamics behind Yorktown’s decision-making, and the steady influence her parents still have on how she works—and lives—today.
From French Major to Fund Manager
“When I went to college, my plan was to major in French,” she recalls.
That plan fizzled fast. A few weeks into her first semester at Virginia’s Sweet Briar College, she realized her favorite high school subject didn’t translate into a college or career passion. Meanwhile, she was watching her then-boyfriend’s (now husband) dissatisfaction with a programming class at Virginia Tech. Where he saw frustration, she saw fascination. He switched out. She switched in.
Even then, she had one eye on the markets. “My family’s investments were helping pay for school, so I always kept a pulse on what was going on,” she says.
When she landed a full-time tech job with a company in Arlington her senior year, she hesitated. “I’d spent my whole life in central Virginia and when the opportunity for a big-city job came along, I realized I didn’t want to leave.”
That hesitation sparked a conversation with her dad, David Dillard Basten. Yorktown’s original systems programmer was preparing to retire, so he suggested she help modernize the infrastructure.
“It was right in my wheelhouse,” Brentz says.
But she had to tread lightly. The retiring programmer still entered every ticker symbol and stock price into a spreadsheet by hand daily—and she didn’t want to disrupt the tight-knit, small-firm culture. She worked around it, quietly automating feeds in the background until the systems started to run smoother.
One project turned into another and before long, she was a key player at the firm.
Making Her Mark
Today, Brentz plays a central role on Yorktown’s investment team. She vets ideas and curates the watch lists for the firm’s equity portfolios. Her dad offers a second layer of analysis, but she’s the one keeping tabs on what’s still growing and what no longer fits.
“We need to be ready,” she explains. “If a holding runs up and we decide to trim, or if something’s not working and we sell, we need strong names in the wings. I’m keeping tabs on growth and making sure these names are still delivering.”
Investing Through a Crisis—and Learning What Resilience Really Looks Like
Yorktown has been through its share of market cycles—but the 2008 financial crisis stands out for Brentz.
“I remember thinking, are we going to be okay?” she says. “It was a scary time.”
Only a few years out of college, with a newborn at home, Brentz was just beginning to understand what it meant to lead through a downturn.
That moment reshaped how she thinks about risk, responsibility, and what it means to show up when the market falls apart. “That’s one of the biggest lessons I learned from my dad. You have to be ready for corrections. You have to prepare.”
She’s seen that resilience in old footage of him being interviewed by the local news station during the crash of ’87. “He looked exhausted,” she says. “Five kids at home, markets collapsing, brand-new firm.”
When she asked him about it later, he shrugged it off, pointing to other downturns throughout the market’s history as being more difficult.
Working with Siblings: Tough Love and Total Trust
For Brentz, working at Yorktown comes with a strong foundation of trust. That’s not to say there haven’t been tense moments—like the time she and her brother, David M. Basten, Yorktown’s Managing Director, teamed up for a mixed doubles tennis match and she double-faulted.
“He was notthrilled,” she laughs. “We won the match, but the argument spilled into work the next day. It felt like a throwback to our childhood. Same tone, same words. We’ve not been mixed doubles partners since.”
Despite the occasional sibling squabble, Brentz says the dynamic works. “There’s a comfort level and a directness,” she explains. “We can challenge each other in a way most colleagues can’t and know that it comes from a place of trust and love.”
Both in and outside of work, the Basten siblings are close. Her brother Austin Basten, Yorktown’s Chief Compliance Officer, frequently joins Brentz and her family for game night on Fridays, and she and David’s kids attend school together.
Quite Strength Behind the Scenes
While Brentz credits her dad with instilling her love for the markets and investing, her mom played a different but equally influential role in shaping her work ethic, parenting style, and perspective on life.
“She has endless patience,” says Brentz. “You kind of have to when you’re raising six kids.”
Whether it was helping Brentz with her tennis serve or quizzing her on spelling words, Leslie Mason Basten, “Mammy,” was a calm, steady presence. And she modeled that consistency in small, memorable ways—like the way she organized her day.
“Mom writes everything down on an index card. A grocery list, a school concert, a pickleball match—if it’s not on the card, it’s not happening.
“I still don’t know how she did it—raising six kids and truly showing up for all of us. I once asked her and she told me she’d just remind herself to put one foot in front of the other… then she’d treat herself to her stash of hidden cookies!”
That image—one of strength, resilience, and just enough humor to survive the chaos—is the one Brentz carries with her. And like so much else in her family, it’s a legacy that serves her well.