Zack Ellison

Managing General Partner & Chief Investment Officer at A.R.I. Venture Debt Opportunities Fund

Speaker

Zack Ellison, CFA, CAIA, is the Managing General Partner of Applied Real Intelligence (“A.R.I.”) and the CIO of the A.R.I. Venture Debt Opportunities Fund. A.R.I. is a Los Angeles-based investment manager that provides venture debt financing 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 investing and trading. Prior to Sun Life Financial, he was a corporate bond and credit default swap trader at Deutsche Bank. During the Global Financial Crisis, he successfully underwrote and managed a large 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, the West Coast Regional Director of the Hedge Fund Association (HFA), and a member of the Milken Institute’s Young Leaders Circle (YLC).

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.