Monday, December 12, 2016

Chris Cebula of Elementum Advisors Presented at Marquette University on Friday

Elementum Advisors' Portfolio Manager, Chris Cebula, Visited Dr. Krause's Classes on December 9th

Chris Cebula (AIM '09, CFA) of Elementum Advisors lectured in Dr. Krause's Fixed Income class and visited the AIM program on Friday, December 9, 2016. For the past two years Chris has been a Portfolio Manager – he began as an Analyst with Elementum in 2010. 

Chris Cebula and Dr. Krause in the AIM Room before class

Elementum Advisors is an independent, SEC-registered alternative investment manager specializing in collateralized natural event reinsurance investments ("Risk-Linked Investments" or "RLI"). 

The firm is located in Chicago and focuses on natural event exposed investment - from liquid catastrophe bonds to high-alpha collateralized reinsurance investments.


Elementum was launched in December 2009 by John DeCaro, Tony Rettino, and Mike France. The principals have worked together in the Risk-Linked Investment arena since 1995. Prior to founding Elementum, they worked together in the Reinsurance and Risk-Linked Investments group at Stark Investments, a leading multi-strategy hedge fund in Milwaukee. Elementum’s team includes all of the former members of the group at Stark, as well as a former member of Stark’s Business Development team.

Dr. David Krause, AIM program director said, "Chris Cebula again did an excellent job in the classroom. He was able to take a complex topic - structured catastrophic bonds - and explain it at a level that all of the students understood.  

Chris Cebula of Elementum Advisors
Image result for elementum advisors logoCat bonds are fixed income instruments where the principal and coupon interest are exposed to severe but infrequent catastrophes (e.g., hurricanes and earthquakes). Chris discussed risk linked investments and the practical application of how cat bonds trade and are valued. The students enjoyed his presentation and asked many questions about this complex financial instrument."
Prior to joining Elementum, Chris  worked in an Operations/Trading Assistant role at Phalanx Capital Management.  Chris graduated magna cum laude from Marquette University’s Applied Investment Management Program. He has also passed both levels of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) exam and he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.


Henry Lu and Chris Cebula
Dr. Krause commented, "The students are always fascinated by the material presented by Elementum Advisors. It is clear that Chris and his colleagues are some of the top catastrophic bond specialists in the business today. 

While these are complicated instruments, Chris did an excellent job explaining them and giving real examples. We are pleased that he was able to join us again – the seventh year that Elementum Advisors has visited Marquette’s campus."