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CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER
Donald L. Luskin
 
Curriculum vitae                                                     LINK TO SHORT BIO >>
Professional accomplishments
2001 to present
Trend Macrolytics
  Founder, Chief Investment Officer
Menlo Park CA
  With economist David Gitlitz, founded an investment strategy firm serving institutional investors, focusing on macroeconomic analysis and forecasting.
1999 to 2001
MetaMarkets.com
  Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer
San Francisco CA
  Led a venture-backed start-up that developed the world's first "interactive mutual funds." OpenFund and the IPO & New Era Fund were the first mutual funds to show all their trades and holdings updated live and in real-time on the web, and permit interaction between fund managers and fund shareholders. The MetaMarkets.com website pioneered a new kind of on-line financial journalism built around the real-time operations of a professional investment management process. The site developed a cult-like following thanks to its live portfolio manager commentary by Luskin and co-founder Dave Nadig, as well as discussion boards featuring interaction with the MetaMarkets Think Tank, a roster of New Economy luminaries including Nicholas Negroponte, David Isenberg, Lori Andrews, David Gitlitz, Reuven Brenner, Nolan Bushnell, Peter Leyden and Peter Sprague.
  MetaMarkets.com triggered an avalanche of public interest in increased transparency and disclosure for mutual funds. Goaded by MetaMarkets.com's crusade, the Securities and Exchange Commission considered new rules that would increase the frequency with which funds must disclose their holdings the shareholders. This was vigorously opposed by the Investment Company Institute, the lobbying organization of the mutual fund industry.
  MetaMarkets.com has received innumerable mentions in the media, and has been honored with the following awards:
  • Forbes Magazine Best of the Web 2001
  • Worth Magazine Best of the Web 2001
  • Fortune Magazine Cool Company 2000
  • Webby nominated for Best Financial Web Site
  • Mutual Fund Education Alliance Best Online Innovation
  • Kasina Top 20 Mutual Fund Web Sites
1987 to 1998
Barclays Global Investors
  Served as a member of the three-person management team that built Wells Fargo Investment Advisors into one of the largest investment management firms in the world -- building assets under management from $69 billion to over $500 billion, and profits from $12 million to $160 million -- and culminating in the firm’s acquisition by Barclays Group PLC in 1995 for $442 million. Key leadership dimensions were corporate strategy, product innovation and investment strategy development, strategic client sales and relationship management, professional staff recruitment and development, and zero-defect process management.
  1997 to 1998
CEO: Barclays Global Mutual Funds
Vice Chairman: Barclays Global Investors
London, England
  Responsible for Barclays’ Mutual Fund businesses worldwide, and their integration into the bank other retail businesses and brands. Member of Office of the Chairman of Barclays Asset Management Group. Re-engineered, rebranded and relaunched businesses in UK, Offshore, and Australia, and founded new business in Japan.

In the UK, created product, branding and corporate strategy for b2, Barclays' innovative online investment and banking business.
  1996
CEO: Individual Investors Group
Vice Chairman: Barclays Global Investors
San Francisco CA
  Responsible for retail market segment worldwide, and global head of Marketing, Communications, and Corporate Strategy.  Managed rebranding of the former Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors as Barclays Global Investors, and its repositioning as a full service global investment management supermarket.
  1993 to 1995
CEO: Defined Contribution Group and Individual Investors Group
Vice Chairman: Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors

San Francisco CA
  Responsible for all Investment and Marketing operations in 401(k) and retail market segments, globally. Created the innovative LifePath funds for 401(k) investors, which have been adopted as investment options under the federal government's Thrift Savings Plan serving over 3 million government employees; awarded US Patent 5,812,987 as inventor. Developed with Morgan Stanley the "Webs" family of exchange-traded funds, the first sector ETFs, (now called "iShares"). Developed Automated Net Answerline (ANA), the first online 401(k)participant service environment including account information access and trading. Member of Executive Committee, engaged in search for strategic alliance that resulted in acquisition by Barclays.
  1990 to 1992
President: Americas Group
Vice Chairman: Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors
San Francisco CA
  Co-Chief Investment Officer, responsible for all Portfolio Management, Transaction Management, Research, Sales and Relationship Management activities in the United States and Canada. Re-engineered Securities Lending business as a profit-center based on customer satisfaction and prudent use of derivatives. Sponsored aggressive research into quantitative active investment strategies, and began transformation of the firm’s strategic direction away from purely passive investing.
  1989 to 1990
Executive Vice President: Wells Fargo Investment Advisors

San Francisco CA
  Responsibilities expand to include Investment Research.
  1987 to 1989
Senior Vice President: Wells Fargo Investment Advisors

San Francisco CA
  Manager of Investments Group, responsible for Portfolio Management and Trading (customer and proprietary). Successfully managed investment process through the crash of 1987 and its aftermath.
1984 to 1987
Jefferies & Company
  Senior Vice President, Director
Chicago IL
  Conceived, developed, and built strategic client constituency for the POSIT crossing network. Founded Investment Technology Group (spun off from Jefferies in 1991 as an independent public company with current market value of over $1 billion; POSIT remains flagship product).
1979 to 1984
Hedge fund management
  Profitably managed complex and highly leveraged partnerships for high net worth individuals. Created integrated software for real-time valuation of derivative securities and risk-management of positions. Market-maker on floor of Chicago Board Options Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and Pacific Stock Exchange
  1983 to 1984
General Partner: Luskin, Carlyle & Gray
Member, Chicago Board Options Exchange
Permitee, New York Stock Exchange

Chicago IL
  1982 to 1983
President: HGF Corporation
Member, Chicago Board Options Exchange

Chicago IL
  1979 to 1982
General Partner: X-3 Limited
Member, Pacific Stock Exchange

San Francisco CA
1974 to 1979
Don Luskin & Associates
  Creative Director
Los Angeles CA
  Independent studio offering specialized creative services for advertising including graphic design, copywriting, multimedia, promotions and production services. Clients included Warner Brothers, LucasFilm, Teledyne, and Mattel.
Media
  Television
  CNBC: Kudlow & Company
Regular guest commentator
Taking Stock, Power Lunch
  Fox News: Your World
  Bloomberg TV
  CNN Money: Market Call
Week-long co-anchor for 2-hour morning show.
  Print and online
  National Review Online
Contributing editor: economic commentaries and Krugman Truth Squad column since March 2002.
  MSN Money
"The Political Economist" for the Strategy Lab feature
  SmartMoney.com
Contributing editor: Weekly Ahead of the Curve column since August 2001
  Commentaries
National Review, National Post, American Spectator, Harvard Business Review, CapitalismMagazine.com
  Op-eds
Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury News, Pensions & Investments, The Detroit News
  TheStandard.com
Daily commentaries syndicated from September 2000 to September 2001
  TheStreet.com
Daily Open Book column from June 2000 to June 2001
  Business 2.0
Monthly Investing column from March 2000 to May 2001
Books and Publications
  Books (author)
  Index Options and Futures: The Complete Guide, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987.  English and Japanese language editions
  Books (editor)
  Portfolio Insurance: A Guide to Dynamic Hedging, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1988. Contributors include Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, Mark Rubinstein, Hayne Leland, John Cox, Stephen Ross and 20 others.
  Books (contributor)
  "Investing Out Loud," in Adam Leitzes and Joshua Solan (editors), Bulls, Bears, & Brains, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002, 27-42
  “The Revolution in Composite Assets,” in Frank J. Fabozzi (editor), Institutional Investor Focus on Investment Management, Cambridge: Ballinger, 1989, 95-100
  “Equity Indexing,” in Frank J. Fabozzi (editor), Portfolio and Investment Management, Chicago: Probus, 1989, 177-182
  “Upstairs, Downstairs: The Block Traders and the Specialists," in Wayne H. Wagner (editor), The Complete Guide to Securities Transactions, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989, 153-160
  “Mechanics of Trading for Index Arbitrage,” in Frank J. Fabozzi and Gregory M. Kipnis (editors), Handbook of Stock Index Futures and Options, Homewood, Illinois: Dow Jones Irwin, 1989, 238-243
  “Block, Programme and Off-Exchange Trading,” in Chris Stoakes and Andrew Freeman (editors), Managing Global Portfolios, London: Euromoney Publications, 1989, 135-142
  Policy Analysis
  “The Levin-McCain Stock Option Tax Hike: An Option Americans Can’t Afford,” Policy Brief for the National Taxpayers Union, April 16 2002
  Journal articles
  “The Marketplace for Composite Assets,” in The Journal of Portfolio Management 14:1, Spring 1987, 12-19
  “The Marketplace for Composite Assets,” in The Japan Financial Analysts Journal 27:10, October 1989, 53-59
  Proceedings
  “If Derivatives Are So Great, Why Don't More People Use Them?” in proceedings of Derivative Strategies for Managing Portfolio Risk, April 13-14, 1993 (Marina Del Rey, California), Charlottesville: Association for Investment Management and Research, 10-13
Education
  1973 to 1974
Yale University

New Haven CT
  Completed freshman year; dropped out to pursue career
Personal
  Residence: Silicon Valley
Member: The Palo Alto Club
Benefactor: The Cato Institute
  Metaphysics: objective reality
Epistemology: reason
Ethics: self-interest
Politics: libertarian capitalism

 


 


Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Trend Macrolytics, LLC. All rights reserved. For information purposes only, offered as a periodical of general circulation; not to be deemed to be recommendations for buying or selling specific securities or to constitute personalized investment advice. Derived from sources deemed to be reliable, but we make no warranty as to accuracy. Trend Macrolytics, TrendMacro and the stylized triangle symbol are trademarks of Trend Macrolytics, LLC.
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