Yulun Wang (BS ’87), of New York, NY, married Elyssa East on July 23, 2011. Wang is a Partner and an Executive Producer at Pi Recordings, a jazz record label in New York. He is also a Director of University Community Social Services, an organization in New York that helps homeless people and others in need. David Perlin (BS ’83, MBA ’88), of Chappaqua, NY, has been named a Managing Director on the international equities desk with BTIG LLC, a global financial services firm that specializes in institutional trading and related brokerage services. He will serve as BTIG’s head of international sales trading for the Americas. Neil Wolfson (BS ’85, MBA ’89), of Saddle River, NJ, has been named to the Board of Directors of On Deck Capital Group, a New York-based private investment firm. He is President of SF Capital Group, a private investment firm.
1990s Alan Cohen (MBA ’90), of Pleasanton, CA, has been named Vice President of Marketing for Enterprise and Public Sector of Cisco Systems. Mr. Cohen has more than 20 years experience in tech marketing and product management. Ivan Gruhl (MBA ’90), of Dubuque, IA, has joined Honkamp Krueger Financial Services Inc. as Vice President of Fixed Income Strategist. He has more than 25 years experience in the investment markets, specializing in the fixed income area. J. Kent Masters (MBA ’90), of Murray Hill, NJ, has been named CEO of Foster Wheeler AG. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Rockwood Holdings, a manufacturer of chemicals and advanced materials based in Princeton. Erik Prusch (MBA ’90), of Kirkland, WA, has been promoted to President and CEO of Clearwire Corporation, a provider of 4G wireless broadband services and the largest wholesale operator in the United States.
A Long-term View Less than five years after graduating from NYU Stern, Maggie Arvedlund’s star is rising. She was recently promoted to Managing Director at her firm, Fortress Investment Group, and that is just the beginning. In business and in life, Arvedlund instinctively focuses her sights on the distant horizon. “I always knew that I would end up working in the investment business, but was not sure in what capacity. In part, it was my exposure, both early in my career and while at Stern, to firms with world-class resources and research capabilities that inspired me to pursue a career in private equity.” Arvedlund began her investment career in San Francisco at global investment advisory firm Hall Capital Partners, in the Maggie Arvedlund (MBA ’07) portfolio management and later the private equity investment practice. As an analyst, Arvedlund learned about asset allocation, portfolio construction, and the role of alternatives in investment portfolios. She later shifted into private equity investment management, identifying and evaluating private equity investment opportunities on behalf of advisory clients, and discretionary fund vehicles. That experience was her first full-time exposure to world-class research, asset management, and direct investing. With a solid foundation in alternative assets, Arvedlund realized it was time to pursue graduate studies. Stern’s core finance and accounting curriculum, supplemented with realworld application, provided the practical fundamentals, while she studied with luminaries such as Professors Aswath Damodaran, Ed Altman, and Lasse Pedersen, among others. “Stern afforded me the opportunity to broaden my experience by working on the Michael Price Student Investment Fund, seeding new businesses with classmates, taking an active role in student leadership, and connecting with first-class corporations and institutions,” she said. “Stern brought Wall Street to campus.” Today, as a portfolio manager of private equity in an endowment-style vehicle within Fortress, a diversified global investment management firm based in New York, Arvedlund contemplates the journey ahead. “In terms of my career, I’m at the beginning of a long road,” she says. Investment-wise, she has adopted a long-term view as well, describing her value-based investment philosophy as “a willingness to accept a certain level of illiquidity, while capitalizing on market dislocations.” Arvedlund’s foresight has earned her a reputation as a leader in investment management and academic arenas alike. Recently, she was invited by Stern’s Dean, Peter Henry, to chair the newly formed Stern Private Equity Advisory Board, which works in coordination with the Stern Private Equity Club. Crediting her career success in part to inspiring industry and academic mentors, Arvedlund is committed to help build a program at Stern that serves as a “connector” for students who seek to be better prepared for private equity careers and alumni who work in that field. “The Stern community is a brain trust of really smart and motivated people – a large constituency of professionals who I know would love to give back,” Arvedlund said. “Stern Private Equity has the potential to serve as a channel for these folks and, with a little cultivation, could prove to be a truly valuable long-term asset for the School.” To learn more about The Stern Private Equity Club and how you can become involved, e-mail spec@stern.nyu.edu.
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