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About Zack Ellison, MBA, MS, CFA, CAIA
Zack Ellison, CFA, CAIA, is the Founder, Managing General Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of Applied Real Intelligence (“A.R.I.”) and A.R.I.’s Venture Debt Opportunities Fund. A.R.I. is a Los Angeles-based venture debt investment manager focused on providing financing solutions to innovative, high-growth, VC-backed companies in recession-resistant sectors and underserved regions. Mr. Ellison leads A.R.I.’s investment activities, including sourcing, due diligence, structuring, execution, and portfolio management.
Previously, Mr. Ellison was Director of U.S. Public Fixed Income at Sun Life Financial, where he was responsible for corporate credit trading and investing. Prior to Sun Life Financial, he was a corporate bond and credit default swap trader at Deutsche Bank. During the Global Financial Crisis, he was an investment banker where he successfully underwrote and managed a portfolio of leveraged loans at Scotia Bank. He began his financial career at Thomson (now Thomson Reuters) in the Capital Markets Intelligence group.
Currently, Mr. Ellison is a Board Member of CFA Society Los Angeles, a Board Member of the Southwest Chapter of the CAIA Association, and the West Coast Regional Director of the Hedge Fund Association (HFA). He is also a member of the Milken Institute’s Young Leaders Circle (YLC) and Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the largest angel investing group in the United States.
Mr. Ellison holds an MBA with concentrations in Analytic Finance and Economics from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business along with an MS in Risk Management from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College while majoring in Economics. In his personal time, Mr. Ellison is working towards completion of a Doctorate in Business Administration at the University of Florida (Gainesville).
Additionally, he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations and previously held FINRA Series 7, 55, and 63 licenses.
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