Using Decision Science in Investing: Masters in Business with Omar Aguilar

Barry Ritholtz talks with Omar Aguilar, president, CEO and CIO of Schwab Asset Management, about his path from actuarial science and a Duke PhD in decision sciences to quantitative roles on Wall Street and then Schwab. The conversation covers his work at Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, ING and Financial Engines under William Sharpe, and how he built asset management businesses. The description also says they discuss using his decision-sciences background to build client trust and navigate markets, though the excerpt focuses mainly on career and firm-building.

1. Aguilar is president, CEO and chief investment officer of Schwab Asset Management, which the transcript says runs over a trillion dollars across 100 ETFs, mutual funds and separately managed account strategies.
2. He studied actuarial science and applied statistics before earning a master's in statistics and a PhD in decision sciences at Duke as a Fulbright scholar.
3. He worked at Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, ING and Financial Engines, where he worked under Nobel laureate William Sharpe before joining Schwab in 2011.
4. At Lehman Brothers, he says he built asset allocation models for the private bank that included private equity, private real estate and fund of hedge funds.