ABOUT

PROGRAMS

SOLUTIONS

MANAGEMENT

CONTACT 

SELECTED BIOGRAPHIES of QFS's management team are provided below.  

SANFORD J. GROSSMAN, PhD

  Chairman

Dr. Grossman founded a predecessor of QFS in 1988.  Prior to founding the firm, Dr. Grossman had a distinguished career in academia, and he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal by American Economic Association in 1987.  His research spanned the analysis of information in securities markets, corporate structure, property rights and optimal dynamic risk management.  He has published widely in leading economic and business journals, including American Economic Review, Journal of Econometrics, Econometrica and Journal of Finance.   

Degrees in Economics from University of Chicago:

Academic appointments:

American Finance Association:

Other positions:

KARLHEINZ MUHR

 Chief Executive Officer

Karlheinz Muhr was appointed Chief Executive Officer of QFS upon the acquisition of Cenario Capital by QFS in April 2011. Mr. Muhr was a founding partner and the Chairman & CEO of Cenario Capital.

Prior to Cenario, Mr. Muhr served as a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Asset Management Division and was head of Credit Suisse Volaris, an alternative asset management firm he co-founded and sold to Credit Suisse in 2003.  He was also a member of both the Chairman's Board and the Management Council of Credit Suisse.  With over 25 years of investment experience, Mr. Muhr has held a variety of senior positions at UBS Warburg and Credit Suisse First Boston.

Mr. Muhr has an M.B.A. from the Anderson School of Business at the University of California at Los Angeles (1985) and a Mag.rer.soc.oec. degree from the University for Business and Economics (1982) in Vienna, Austria. He serves on the following not-for-profit boards: The Institute of International Education (IIE), New York and The Aspen Institute, Washington D.C., where he is also a Crown Fellow.

JIM CONKLIN, PhD

 Managing Director, Director of Research

Dr. Jim Conklin joined QFS in 2011 and manages research in collaboration with Dr. Grossman.  Prior to joining QFS, Dr. Conklin was Head of Investment Research at FX Concepts and member of the Management Committee there.  He was a Portfolio Manager at Fortress Investments in the Liquid Markets group, where he ran a quant-macro portfolio and headed an 8-person quant investment team. With 14 years of investment experience, Dr. Conklin has worked as a quant-trader and strategist in FX volatility trading, currencies, commodities, fixed income relative value, and equity long-short at various institutions.  A native of Northern California, Dr. Conklin has an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University (1986) and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University (1993). He held faculty positions at the University of Texas and the University of Madrid Carlos III prior to entering the field of finance.  He has scholarly publications in the Journal of Political Economy and Econometrica.

ROBERT SHUSTAK

 COO & CFO

Robert Shustak re-joined QFS in March 2008, and is responsible for overseeing the firm's business operations and helping QFS through its next phase of growth.  Robert was President & COO of QFS’s predecessor entity (Quantitative Financial Strategies, Inc.) from 1999 through 2002, during which time he was instrumental in building and growing the firm’s infrastructure and personnel.  Robert's career has spanned over 25 years in the financial services industry.  He has been Chief Operating Officer at Strategic Value Partners, Sandelman Partners and Post Advisory Group and was CFO of Long-Term Capital Management.  Prior to these roles he was with Salomon Brothers Inc. for nine years in the Financial Division.  He started his finance career with J. Henry Schroder Bank and Trust.  Robert has a B.A. in accounting from Queens College.

MICHAEL SALERNO

 Managing Director

Previously, Mr. Salerno was a founding partner, a Managing Director and the CIO of Cenario Capital. Mr. Salerno had been the founder and managing principal of Latus Capital, an SEC covered RIA providing comprehensive asset management services for institutional and accredited private clients.  Mr. Salerno was the Managing Director and CIO of a large multi-family investment office where he directed all portfolio management activities.  He also served as managing general partner of an institutional private equity investment fund.  He previously was a vice president of M&T Bancorp a $40 billion regional bank holding company, and president of its private equity/merchant banking investment subsidiary.  He holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

STEPHEN VAN BESIEN

 Managing Director

Stephen Van Besien was a founding partner and a Managing Director of Cenario Capital Management. Previously, Mr. Van Besien was a Co-Founder of Volaris Advisors LLC (a leading Volatility Management firm), which was acquired by Credit Suisse in 2003.  He most recently served as Managing Director and Deputy Head of the Volaris Volatility business unit within the Credit Suisse Alternative Investments Division from 2003-2008, and was a member of the Diversity Advisory Committee for the firm.  Earlier, Mr. Van Besien held senior positions at UBS Warburg (Executive Director) and ABN AMRO (Group Vice President).  A graduate of The University of Virginia in 1985, he also earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.  Mr. Van Besien currently serves as  a member of  the National Advisory Board of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation of the University of Virginia and Chairman of the New Jersey Jefferson Scholar Selection Committee.

JONATHAN SILBER

 Managing Director, Director of Trading

Jonathan Silber has been the head of QFS’s trading department since April 1999. He came to QFS from Bankers Trust, where he spent over 10 years in various FX markets.  His responsibilities there included managing FX trading desks, running one of Bankers Trust’s internal hedge funds and creating and overseeing the company’s internal fund of funds operation. Mr. Silber holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business. 

ROBERT J. O’DONNELL, CAIA

 Managing Director, Director of Marketing

Mr. O’Donnell is the Director of Marketing for QFS. Mr. O’Donnell has over 20 years of alternative investment marketing experience. From 2006 to 2010, Mr. O’Donnell was Director of Marketing for Cohen & Company’s alternative investment products and from 2002 to 2006, he was Director of Marketing for Kellner DiLeo & Co., a multi-strategy alternative asset management firm.  Previously, Mr. O’Donnell had marketing positions at State Street Bank and PaineWebber. He attended Washington & Lee University and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) charter holder. Additionally, he has been the Head of the New York Chapter of CAIA since 2006 and is on CAIA's Exam Council.

WILLIAM D. McGIRR

 Director, Business Development

William McGirr joined QFS in 2005 and works closely with the marketing team in implementing the firm’s business development efforts and marketing strategy on a global basis. Mr. McGirr works on client acquisition and investor relations. Additional responsibilities include investor due diligence, investor portfolio reviews and managing the marketing materials. Mr. McGirr earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005.

JONATHAN DUNN

 Associate Director, Investor Services

Jonathan Dunn joined QFS in 2011 as an Associate Director. He works closely with the marketing, operations, accounting, trading and research teams. Prior to joining QFS, Jonathan spent seven years at Morgan Stanley doing investment research and client communication in the unified managed account program for institutional and high net worth clients. He earned his B.S. in marketing and management at Villanova University. Jonathan received his M.B.A from the University of Connecticut with concentrations in finance, marketing, and international business, graduating with honors.

DAVID L. ZIMMERMAN, ESQ.

 General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer

David Zimmerman joined QFS in 2006 as its General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining QFS, David served for two years as the Chief Compliance Officer of Chilton Investment Company. Before joining Chilton, David was general counsel for LiveWire Capital, LLC, a private equity investment and management group focused on the technology sector. David’s earlier experience includes work on mergers and acquisitions and investment management at Davis Polk & Wardwell. He received his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School (where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar).

 Chief Technology Officer

George Holt joined QFS in 2002 to develop and maintain proprietary trading applications while overseeing all aspects of technology at the firm. He is an expert in the area of multi-tier applications and currently holds two patents on automated data replication and caching techniques he developed. From 1998 to 2001 he served as Chief Technology Officer for two Internet start-ups, creating and administering the network infrastructure at each firm and managing staffs of up to twenty technologists. His prior experience includes software and program engineering for GE Aircraft Engines, where he led the development of a NASA-funded project and was awarded a GE Individual Achievement Award. George received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a graduate of the GE Engineering Development Program.