Advisory Board

• Cameron Hight, CFA
  Financial Algorithms & Tools

  
  

  Cameron Hight is the Founder and President of Alpha Theory, a developer and marketer of portfolio management analytics software. He is an investment industry veteran and a Chartered Financial Analyst with a decade of experience at both buy and sell-side firms, including Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse First Boston, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and CIBC Oppenheimer. His coverage revolved mainly around technology companies where he supported more than $20 billion in transactions. Subsequent to his experience as a research analyst, Cameron joined Afton Capital Management, a long-short equity hedge fund. Cameron has spoken at conferences and seminars and been interviewed for a variety of television and radio programs. He sits on the board of Predictive Markets, financial market signal software; The Crown Advisors, a long/short equity hedge fund; and DISCERN. He also writes a monthly column for Institutional Investor focusing on the use of risk-adjusted return for effective portfolio management. Cameron graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and became one of the youngest ever to receive the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
• Jack Malvey
  Global Strategy & Fixed Income

  
  

  Jack Malvey is a current consultant and former Managing Director and Bond Strategist at Barclays Capital who brings more than 30 years of Wall Street experience to his advisory role at DISCERN. Prior to joining Barclays Capital, he was the Chief Global Fixed-Income Strategist at Lehman Brothers from1996 to 2008 and the Corporate Bond Strategist from 1992 to 1996. Previously, he served as Director of Corporate Bond Research at Kidder Peabody and held an analyst post at Moody’s Investor Services. In addition to holding the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, Jack belongs to the Financial Management Association, the New York Society of Security Analysts, the Fixed Income Analysts Society and the Society of Quantitative Analysts. He is a former President of the Fixed Income Analysts Society and was inducted into the Society’s Hall of Fame in November 2003.

  Jack received an A.B. in economics from Georgetown University and conducted graduate work in economics at the New School for Social Research in New York. For 18 years, he was a ranked strategist in Institutional Investor’s annual fixed-income research survey, including 16 consecutive first team positions (5 for corporate bond strategy, 11 for general strategy). Jack also serves on the investment advisory committee of the New York State Teachers Retirement System and is the distinguished author of “Global Corporate Bond Portfolio Management,” a required chapter reading for CFA Level III candidates.
• Dr. David Nordfors
  Global Innovation Journalism

  
  

  Dr. David Nordfors is co-founder and Executive Director of the VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism, a joint partnership between Stanford University and the government of Sweden. He is a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University's H-Star Institute, credited with coining the concepts of Innovation Journalism, Attention Work and Innovation Communication Systems and organizing the world’s first innovation journalism initiatives - one in Sweden in 2003, and another on the campus of Stanford University in 2005.

  David is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Journalism, as well as the World Economic Forum Global Redesign Initiative. He has been a visiting professor at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (Tech Monterrey) in Mexico and an adjunct professor at IDC Herzliya. He has also served as Special Advisor to the Director General at VINNOVA, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems and the first Director of Research Funding for the Knowledge Foundation, one of the largest research foundations in Sweden. David’s special collection of talents also earned him a position as the first Science Editor of Datateknik, the largest Swedish magazine for IT professionals. In addition, he is the founding publisher and editor of "IT och Lärande" (IT and Learning), the largest Swedish newsletter for educators. He initiated and headed the first hearing about the Internet to be held by the Swedish Parliament.

  David holds a Ph.D. in molecular quantum physics from the Uppsala University, where he was recruited as a Ph.D. student by Professor Kai Siegbahn (winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physics). At the time, he was a post-doctoral researcher in theoretical chemistry at the University of Heidelberg.
• Larry Sonsini
  Chairman, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

  
  

  Larry Sonsini is the Chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati (WSGR), a highly regarded Silicon Valley-based law firm. As head of WSGR, he has been instrumental in many of the most significant financial transactions in the technology sector over the last several decades, including the initial public offerings of Apple and Google and the merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq. He is currently the Chair of the New York Stock Exchange Commission on Corporate Governance and is a former member of the Board of the NYSE. In addition to his contributions as an advisor to DISCERN, he fulfills advisory roles at the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Capital Formation and Regulatory Processes, Silicon Valley Bank, and the NASD. In 2007, Larry was named "one of the most influential players in U.S. corporate governance" by Directorship magazine, and the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California named him “Business Leader of the Year” in 2005. Larry taught securities law at the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law for 20 years.
• Dirk Thomas
  Greater China Insight

  
  

  Dirk Thomas is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Summit View Partners and has received national recognition from the governments of China and Singapore for his contributions to each country’s economic and societal development. In so doing, he drew upon his 20 years of experience in business and market development in Asia and the Pacific. Prior to founding Summit View, Dirk was the President of Greater China Operations for Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, where he boosted annual revenues by more than 50% per year, and more than doubled the company’s employee numbers to create a workforce over 11,000 strong. His responsibilities included customer service, application development and overseeing manufacturing operations located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taipei. Dirk led the creation and development of Hitachi’s first disk drive manufacturing company in China. He also developed and implemented the company’s “mega manufacturing” concept, which established leading capabilities in recording technology, supply chain management, and fulfillment services. In addition, Dirk served as the company’s lead representative to the Chinese government and acted as the regional Chief Financial Officer. Over the years, he has held a litany of executive and general management positions with Hitachi and IBM, where he played a critical role in merging the global disk drive businesses of the two companies from the earliest stages to transaction completion. Throughout his prolific career, he has successfully led teams in technology, sales, finance, manufacturing operations, product and technology development, corporate development, and strategy.

  Dirk is currently the Vice Chairman of the 6th Director Board of Shenzhen’s Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, and enjoys memberships in both the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong & Southern China, and the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce. He holds M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Management from Stanford University and a B.A. in Business Administration from Santa Clara University, where he also earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
• David Wagonfeld
  Global Fund Practices

  
  

  David Wagonfeld is the Co-Founder of Duo Partners, LLC, a Silicon Vally-based firm specializing in business acquisitions. Prior to forming Duo, David was the President of Standard Pacific Capital LLC, an employee-owned hedge fund which provides its services to pooled investment vehicles and corporations. Focusing on public equity markets across the globe, the firm invests in value stocks and employs long/short and long-only strategy to make its investments.

  Prior to his 12-year tenure at Standard Pacific, David worked as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, a leading global strategy management consulting firm. David holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford.