BIOGRAPHY

I am an investor and fund manager, currently serving as the Head of Fixed Income at Huber, Reuss & Kollegen, managing mutual and special funds as well as segregated accounts in the fixed income space.

I started my career working in equity research, before joining StarCapital/Bellevue Group as a senior researcher and portfolio manager in the Global Fixed Income department, co-managing a range of global unconstrained fixed income funds as well as conducting research.

In my current function, I run a credit-focussed global unconstrained fixed income strategy, combining top-down and bottom-up approaches as well as quantitative and qualitative aspects. My approach is benchmark-agnostic, dynamically allocating to the full spectrum of fixed income markets. Apart from investment-grade and high-yield corporate credits, my focus lies on fallen angels and the crossover zone in general, subordinated bonds as well as non-rated corporates.

I have been the recipient of the “Thomson Reuters Analyst Award” in 2016, the “Euro Fund Award 2020”, the “Euro Fund Award 2022” and the “Euro Fund Award 2023”. I am currently AA-rated by Citywire.

I transitioned to the investment management industry from academia. My academic background includes an M.A. in Economic History (University of Vienna), a Graduate Diploma in Banking (LSE), an M.Sc. in Finance (Cass Business School) and a Doctorate in Economic History (University of Vienna).

I have been publishing extensively in academic journals and given presentations on global conferences in the areas of economic history, economics and on a range of investment management topics. My research focus lies on quantitative approaches to investment management, particularly in fixed income markets, style premia and financial crises as well as quantitative fundamental investing in general.

Growing up in western Austria, I enjoy hiking, skiing and backcountry skiing as well as playing squash and tennis.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Work Experience

Head of Fixed Income & Fund Manager Global Fixed Income

Management of special and mutual funds (Arbor Invest - Spezialrenten, ISIN: LU1035659520 | Citywire: Top-7/130 in "Bonds – Global Flexible" over 3 years) as well as institutional managed accounts. Besides international IG and HY market, focus on crossover segment (fallen angels/rising stars), subordinated debt (particularly corporates, but recently also quite a bit of Basel III/Solvency II legacy papers) as well as non-rated bonds. 

Responsibility for defining firm’s fixed income strategy, including credit research, idea-generation, setting strategic positioning within fixed income segments as well as preparation and delivering of investment pitches for prospective clients and representation of fixed income expertise in the media. 

Fund manager of Arbor Invest – Spezialrenten (ISIN: LU1035659520): 2022: “Euro Fund Award 2023” (3 years); outperformance of 2.6% (vs peergroup) and 5.4% (vs benchmark); 2021: “Euro Fund Award 2022” (1 year); Top-1% by Morningstar in the "Global Flexible Bond– EUR-Hedged" category 

Huber, Reuss & Kollegen, Munich | 01/2019 · andauernd

Senior Researcher & Co-Portfolio Manager Global Fixed Income

Research on and selection of bonds from an extensive, non-benchmark-based universe of international IG and HY fixed income instruments, including advanced and emerging economies, for global unconstrained mutual funds. 

Developed various valuation models for fixed income instruments (investment grade and high yield corporate bonds); special focus on investments in “fallen angels” and “rising stars” (crossover zone); constructed FX fair value models of advanced and emerging economies; conducted macroeconomic-based global credit cycle analysis 

Research on secular and short-term global market cycles (debt cycles, interest rate cycles, etc.) as well as currency valuation (advanced and emerging markets) for strategic and tactical positioning. 

StarCapital/Bellevue Gr. AG, Frankfurt a. M. | 04/2016 · 12/2018

Research Analyst

 Research on European technology companies | Historical and cross-sectional DCF and multiples modelling | Generation of short-, mid- and long-term investment ideas | Thomson Reuters Analyst Award 2016 Winner | Outperformed peergroup by 13.04pps (Bloomberg) 

Montega AG, Hamburg | 06/2014 · 03/2016

Internship, Hedge Fund

Salus Alpha, Vienna | 09/2010 · 10/2010

Internship

Rotationsprogramm in den Bereichen Portfolio & Asset Management, Private Banking and Treasury  

Hypo Landesbank Vorarlberg, Bregenz | 08/2009 · 09/2009

Education

Professional Certificate Programme in Data Science, Harvard University, United States

9-course programme based on R programming language covering data visualisation, probability, data wrangling, inference and modelling, linear regression and machine learning

09/2019 · 06/2022 (erw.)

Doctorate Programme (Ph.D.), University of Vienna, Institute for Economic and Social History, Austria

Dissertation topic: Unholy Duality: Free Markets and Government Interventions Before the Background of the Global Financial Crisis 2007-2009 

Graduated with distinction 

09/2009 · 06/2014

Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Finance, Cass Business School, London, UK

Graduated with distinction 

10/2011 · 07/2012

Diploma for Graduates in Banking, London School of Economics (LSE) & University of London (UoL), UK

Graduated with merit 

10/2010 · 06/2011

Diplomstudium (Mag. phil.) in History, University of Vienna, Austria

Graduated with distinction | Specialisation in Economic History | 2008: Université Marc Bloch, Université de Strasbourg, France 

10/2003 · 05/2009

Austrian Armed Forces, Gebirgsjäger (mountain trooper), Jägerbatallion 24, St. Johann (Tirol), Austria

01/2003 · 08/2003

Matura, Bundesgymnasium Dornbirn, Austria

09/1996 · 06/2002

QUALIFICATIONS

(STATISTICAL) PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES:

R | Python | SQL

INFORMATIONAL SYSTEMS:

Bloomberg | Thomson Reuters/Refinitiv Eikon & Datastream | S&P Capital IQ | Metastock | Morningstar | MSCI ESG

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Chartered Market Technician (CMT), Market Technician Association (MTA), New York

Level II

Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), Market Technician Association (MTA), New York 

Level I

Languages

German: native  |  English: fluent  French: elementary  |  Spanisch: elementary 

Interessen

INVESTMENT :

Investment Grade | High Yield (incl. Non-rated Issues) | Crossover Bonds, i.e. Fallen Angels/Rising Stars | Risk Premia Harvesting | Quantitative-based Fundamental Analysis | Quantitative Bond Investing | Intermarket Analysis | Strategic & Tactical Asset Allocation | Smart Beta in Fixed Income

ACADEMIC :

Risk Premia | Financial Economics | Behavioural Finance | Financial Crises | Financial and Monetary History | Rise & Decline of Economic and Social Systems

SPORT :

Tennis | Squash | Ski-Touring | Hiking | Fishing

PUBLICATIONS

  • “Long-Term Corporate Bond Returns: Evidence from 1919 to 2022 – A New Dataset,” Work in Progress, 2023
  • “Fallen Angels: Corporate Bond Downgrades to Non-Investment Grade as a ‘Revocable Sin’,” Unpublished Working Paper, 2023.
  • “The Market Value of Equity-to-Gross Domestic Product Ratio as a Predictor of Long-term Equity Returns: International Evidence 1973-2019,” with Laurens Swinkels (Robeco), forthcoming, 2023.
  • “The Market Value of Equity-to-Gross Domestic Product Ratio as a Predictor of Long-term Equity Returns: Evidence from the U.S. Market, 1951-2019,” Working Paper, 2020. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3551661.
  • “Is Bitcoin Money? An Economic-Historical Analysis of Money, Its Functions and Its Prerequisites,” Discussion paper prepared for the “Prices, Business Fluctuations and Cycles and Capital” panel at the 85th International Atlantic Economic Conference, London, United Kingdom, 17 March 2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3182646 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3182646.
  • “The Great Depression(s) of 1929-1933 and 2007-2009? Parallels, Differences and Policy Lessons,” with Peter Eigner, Hungarian Academy of Science, MTA-ELTE Crisis History Working Paper No. 2, 2015. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2612243.
  • “Regulators’ Irrational Rationality and Bankers’ Rational Irrationality: Too-Big-to-Fail, Self-Regulation, Moral Hazard and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009,” Austrian Journal of Historical Studies 26 (2015), pp. 21-45.
  • “The Paradoxical Genesis of Too-Big-to-Fail: How Distrust Towards Big Banks Created TBTF,” Journal of Governance and Regulation 3 (2014), pp. 28–41.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  • “Is Bitcoin Money? An Economic-Historical Analysis of Money, Its Functions and Its Prerequisites,” Presentation for the “Prices, Business Fluctuations and Cycles and Capital” panel at the 85th International Atlantic Economic Conference, London, United Kingdom, 17 March 2018. 
  • “From Central Planning to Central Banking: What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been,” Presentation at the 79th International Atlantic Economic Conference, Milan, Italy, 12-14 March 2015. 
  • “The Great Depression(s) of 1929-1933 and 2007-2009? Parallels, Differences and Policy Lessons,” with Peter Eigner, Presentation at the Fourth European Congress on World and Global History, Panel: Multiple Economic Crises in Historical Perspectives, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, 4-7 September 2014.