Nicolas Amato

(MBA 2004) Prior to attending the Anderson School, Nicolas spent three years at the Merrill Lynch Institutional office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For two years he performed as Operations Manager, leading the middle and back-office of the Equity group and initiating local debt trading business. His last year was spent on the trading room as Trader, buying and selling ordinary shares in the local market and ADRs through the NYSE. Throughout his experience at Merrill Lynch, Nicolas has had exposure to various international stock exchanges (BOVESPA, Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires, AMEX, NYSE, Mexican stock exchange). During the past summer, he learnt corporate risk management techniques and gained insights into the Mortage industry at Countrywide Financial Corporation.
He graduated with honors as Economic Licentiate from Universidad de San Andres in Argentina, and also received a Masters in Finance from CEMA University. Moreover, Nicolas has been teaching assistant to various Economics and Capital Markets courses at Universidad de San Andres, and Teaching Assistant to Theory of Finance and Managerial Economics courses and a Research Assistant at The Anderson School. He is currently focusing on Finance and Economics at Anderson, and passed the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I Exam on May 2003. He enjoys traveling, languages, reading, writing, and arts in general. He speaks fluid spanish, english, and has basic french skills. His wife Josefina and his loyal dog Sofocles support him in every aspect of his life.
Nicolas is ASAM Class Manager for the Fall 2003 Quarter, and also manages the ASAM Distinguished Money Manager Speaker Series.

Dan is an investment advisor in the Private Wealth Management group at Merrill Lynch. He is a member of a 17-person team that addresses over $6 billion in assets for wealthy individuals and families. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch three years ago, Dan worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in the Private Client group in New York and at First Security Investment Management in Salt Lake City. He also served as a full-time volunteer representative for two years in British Columbia, Canada. Dan earned his BA degree from Brigham Young University where he was an honorary scholar-athlete on the varsity football team. He is currently an MBA candidate at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management and a fellow of the Anderson Student Asset Management Fund. Personal: my wife is Elise and we have 2 boys (Danny & Jonathan), enjoy powerboats and Poker Runs, photography, fishing and scuba diving.

Lucia served as Private and Financial Sector Development Projects Officer at the World Bank in Moldova for two years. She managed two World Bank projects focused on enterprise restructuring, business environment and banking system. In this work Lucia also managed a credit line and dealt extensively with different macro reform programs (related to mutual funds, pledge, bankruptcy code, judiciary, mechanisms of entrepreneurship assistance). Prior to that she had worked for two years at the Agency for Enterprises Restructuring and Assistance where the concept of enterprises restructuring had been successfully launched and conducted in Moldova. Lucia is currently following her concentration in Finance at The Anderson School at UCLA, MBA class of 2004.

Chris Campbell

Prior to Anderson Chris worked at a boutique investment bank in the M&A department primarily working on sales transactions and raising private equity. He also spent a year working in Chile for a financial services consulting firm. This past summer he worked for a real estate development firm where he focused on financing in-fill residential projects. After school Chris has an interest in working in real estate development or with REITs. Chris has a BA from Georgetown University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst holder. He is married to his lovely wife Daniela who is from Chile, and outside of work and school enjoys playing soccer, ping-pong, and watching Gary Busey movies.

Lisa started her university education in the Financial Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation and graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor?s degree in Business Economics. She concentrates in Finance at Anderson. After the 1st year of business school Lisa interned at a fund of hedge funds, Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO). During her internship she was responsible for research and identification of primary investment candidates in the long/short equity hedge fund universe. Additionally, she analyzed the factors affecting the aggregate hedge fund returns. Prior to starting business school Lisa worked at Technical Mechanics and Electronics, an engineering consulting firm, as a business manager. Before coming to the United States she worked at Bermos, a Russian telecommunications company. Lisa enjoys traveling, ballroom dancing, and theatre.

Benjamin currently serves as a Vice President within the Funds Management Group (FMG) at Wilshire Associates, a well known and respected investment consulting firm whose clientele includes large pension funds, endowments, foundations and insurance companies. Within the FMG, he serves as a senior member on the Manager Research Team. In his capacity, Ben is responsible for researching and evaluating prospective institutional money managers on behalf of both our Consulting and Funds Management Group clients. Prior to Wilshire Associates, he worked at a competing consulting firm called Asset Strategy Consulting. Benjamin received his BA in Political Science and Economics at UC San Diego and he is currently attending the Anderson School at UCLA for his MBA. Ben holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts.

Prior to coming to Anderson, Rui worked at a local investment manager as a Portfolio Manager and Trader. Previously, he worked in San Francisco as a Senior Trust Officer in charge of corporate retirement plans. Rui is currently a partner at a consulting firm he co-founded which provides services to businesses in economically depressed areas. Rui is a CFA Charterholder and member of LASFA, as well as a CMT level 3 candidate and member of the Market Technicians Association. Rui?s is interested in quantitative asset management and socially responsible investing. Rui grew up abroad, mainly in Brazil, but has also lived in Portugal, Mexico, Italy, and the Philippines. H enjoys outdoors activities like hiking, and those that involve being in or on the water-scuba diving, snorkeling, and sailing.

Prior to matriculating at Anderson, Brian spent 3 years and trader/analyst with a small, privately held money management company in Boston, MA, where he traded a $4.5 billion dollar municipal bond investment portfolio across approximately 3000 private client accounts. He also recommended block purchases and sales to portfolio managers based on duration, call structure, and yield curve shape, and Deminimus taxation. This summer, Brian will be working in Lehman Brothers? Sales & Trading Summer Associate Program in NY. He received his BS in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Bucknell University in 1999.
Currently, Brian serves as President of the Investment Finance Club. In his spare time, he enjoys Golf, Guitar and Poker. Brian is also the Founder and President of the Anderson Poker Club.

Oleg spent 8 years as senior software/database developer (i.e. techie) in media, .com, and financial industries. Becoming an MBA candidate at Anderson School of Business helped Oleg refocus his long-term carrier goals. Several month after joining ASAM community and passing first level of CFA examination, he changed professions at Payden & Rygel Investment Management, where he spend last 5 years in a different role. Oleg now works as a financial analyst in a fixed income world. His future plans include achieving CFA designation and building career in the industry.