MARTIN FRIDSON is Global Credit Strategist at BNP Paribas
Investment Partners, one of the world's largest asset managers.
Over a twenty-five-year span with brokerage firms including Salomon
Brothers, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch, he became known for
his innovative work in credit analysis and investment strategy.
Fridson has served as president of the Fixed Income Analysts
Society, governor of the Association for Investment Management and
Research (now CFA Institute), and director of the New York Society
of Security Analysts.
FERNANDO ALVAREZ is currently an Adjunct Associate
Professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia University
Graduate Business School, where he teaches entrepreneurship
finance. From 2003 until 2008, he was associate professor in the
Finance and Economics Department and director of entrepreneurship
programs at Rutgers Business School, Newark and New Brunswick.
Alvarez has taught at New York University's Stern School of
Business where he was associate professor on innovation and
entrepreneurship, and Babson College where he was assistant
professor of finance.