NYU Guest Lecturer: Dan Zwirn

Dan Zwirn will deliver a guest lecture at New York University on October 10th.

Dr. Jim Liew, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business, reached out to Mr. Zwirn inviting him to guest lecture in his investment class.

Dan Zwirn will deliver a guest lecture at NYU Stern School of Business.

Founded in 1831, NYU has more than 40,000 students across its individual college’s and sites across the world including South America, Asia, Africa and Europe. One of those is the Leonard N. Stern School of Business.  Dr. Liew is an adjunct professor in the School and has also been highly successful in the investment industry. Dr. Liew has past experience starting an investment business and he currently advises firms, individuals and institutions.

Upon seeing that Mr. Zwirn would be delivering a keynote address at an investment symposium on September 20th, Dr. Liew asked Mr. Zwirn to lecture his class. Zwirn, the Managing Member of Zwirn Family Interests, LLC, will bring a wealth of experience to the class. He was a managing partner at D.B. Zwirn & Co.  where he managed $6 billion of equity capital and $12 billion of assets. He also employed 275 people around the world.

Monica Keany and Dan Zwirn Contribute to the Council on Foreign Relations

Dan Zwirn and his wife Monica Keany have been active donors to over a dozen charities over the past two years. One such charity receiving much support from Zwirn and Keany is the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

CFR is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank and publisher that are a valuable resource to a number of wide-ranging groups such as government officials, executives, educators, students and journalists.  CFR works to help these groups understand foreign policy choices that involve the United States and other countries. Some of the over 4,500 members of CFR include NBC’s Brian Williams, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria and actress Angelina Jolie. The Board of Directors of CFR include notable names NBC’s Tom Brokaw, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Robert E. Rubin, and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline K. Albright.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with Madeline Albright

Founded in 1921, CFR relies on charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations to fund its programs and provide operating revenue. No U.S. government funding is provided. Donations can be designated to support specific functions of CFR. The organization is based in New York City with another office in Washington D.C.

Dan Zwirn and Monica Keany donated to CFR in both 2010 and 2011, while additionally donating to the Brookings Institute in 2011, which is another think tank they contribute to. In addition to that donation to Brookings, Zwirn also donated specifically to the Brookings Institute Sovereign Wealth Project Fund. He also serves as a Brookings Trustee. 

Dan Zwirn and Monica Keany Support Children’s Causes

Over the past two years, Dan Zwirn and Monica Keany have contributed to the charitable causes of “Save the Children” and the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation.

Dan Zwirn Contributes to Save the Children

Save the Children is a global organization that reaches out to struggling children all over the world. When boys and girls are affected by natural disasters, conflicts or ethnic violence, Save the Children steps in with humanitarian relief and long-term recovery programs. They also protect the children from exploitation and help them access education and health care. The charity prides itself on keeping children healthy, protecting them from harm, and increasing literacy rates in their service areas. Save the Children boasts a 4-star out of 4 overall rating according to CharityNavigator.org. Scoring high in financial rating and accountability & transparency rating, Save the Children is rated with an impressive total score of 65.30 out of 70.

Dan Zwirn Has Donated to CCF

The Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF) is a charity focused on pediatric cardiomyopathy. This disease is the leading cause of sudden deaths and heart transplants in those under the age of 18.  Because of slow medical progress, CCF was formed and has helped increase research. Founded in 2002 by parents who lost two children to cardiomyopathy, the CCF has committed more than $1.6 million to research has its materials distributed in 70 hospitals in the United States and Canada.

Newest Board Member of Colford Capital

Dan Zwirn has been named a Board Member of Colford Capital Holdings LLC. Colford's CEO is David Lee, the former President of D.B. Zwirn & Co. Colford is majority-owned owned by Monitor Clipper Partners with an equity investment from Zwirn’s ALDA Capital. Click here to read the full Colford Capital article.

Dan Zwirn Supports President Obama

With the 2012 presidential race heating up, financial support is key for President Barack Obama in his quest to remain in the White House. With a struggling economy, the competition for donors is fierce.

Dan Zwirn Supports Obama | Obama Greets Supporters at a Campaign Event

Contributing to President Obama’s effort is Dan Zwirn, the current Managing Member of Zwirn Family Interests LLC. Zwirn recently donated to the Obama Victory Fund 2012 and has also supported Bill de Blasio for New York City Public Advocate.

Other notable contributors to President Obama’s re-election campaign include individuals and employees of companies such as: Google Inc., Time Warner, General Electric, and the University of California.

In his 21-month campaign in 2008, Obama raised $750 million (ABC News). In that same race, Senator John McCain was able to raise only $238 million. With fundraising more competitive in 2012, President Obama has raised $300 million with nearly $98 million cash on hand. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has raised nearly $154 million with roughly $23 million cash on hand (Opensecrets.org).

President Obama’s campaign has been spending money of late levying heavy television advertisements that aim to improve the image of President Obama’s policies towards businesses. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that if the election were held now, 49% of registered voters would vote for Obama while 43% for Romney (Bloomberg).

Dan Zwirn & Monica Keany Support Safe Horizon

Safe Horizon is a NYC based "victim assistance" agency located on the 3rd floor at 2 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10007.  Established in 1978, Safe Horizon has grown to become the largest victims' service agency in the United States.  They respond to over 250,000 children, adults, and families each year, and supporters help us provide comprehensive services that help our clients overcome crisis and restore their lives.

Safe Horizon - the largest victims' service agency in the U.S.

Dan Zwirn and his wife, Monica Keany, are part of the Safe Horizon community of sponsors.  While Keany serves on the Safe Horizon Board of Directors, both Zwirn and Keany contribute financial support that is channeled throughout the agency in an effort to provide the following services:

1. Help and Hope for Child Victims of Abuse
2. A Refuge for Families from Domestic Violence
3. Second Chances for Homeless Youth
4. Lifelines through Hotlines
5. Helping Victims of Stalking
6. Freeing Victims from Modern-Day Slavery
7. Supporting Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault
8. Giving Victims Places to Turn for Help
9. Restoring Peace of Mind after Violence and Abuse
10. Giving Safer and Brighter Futures to More Than 250,000 People

As the website states, violence and abuse can affect anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, location, or background. Safe Horizon programs and services are available to children, youth, women, men, and families facing crisis.  Donations to Safe Horizon can be made directly on the website.

Dan Zwirn Businessweek Resources

A couple months back Dan Zwirn was featured in the Market & Finance section of Bloomberg Businessweek.  William (Bill) Cohan wrote the article and provided a case study of D.B. Zwirn & Co - recounting the steps that lead to the rapid rise and horrifying fall of the hedge fund that once managed assets of $12 billion.  Bill Cohan is a Bloomberg Television contributing editor and the author of House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street and The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.  His article explained how Dan Zwirn found quick success as Founder and Managing Partner of D.B. Zwirn & Co but ultimately lost everything trying to do the right thing when irregularities in paperwork were discovered.  Cohan was interviewed on Bloomberg Radio where he further emphasized his support of Zwirn's character and capabilities.

In summary, Zwirn was an excellent hedge fund manager, pioneering a method to earn great returns from a large number of relatively smaller investments.  Cohan credits Zwirn with creating the market in which he found success.  He later spent millions of dollars to hire a private investigation team to uncover misfiled paperwork.  He then submitted all of the information to the SEC.  Ultimately, the SEC exonerated Zwirn of any wrong-doing but sought legal ramifications for the former D.B. Zwirn & Co CFO for mishandling [a relatively minute amount of] funds that the firm was ultimately responsible for.  Additionally, it was noted that there was no indication that any personal gain was achieved from the irregularities in paperwork.  However, Dan Zwirn lost D.B. Zwirn & Co and billions in assets as a result of the duration of the investigation.  The SEC took so long to review the information surrounding the case that by the time they responded, investors were left without resources they need to appropriately file their taxes and ultimately pulled their funds.  Despite a long endured attempt to try to do everything right, Dan Zwirn ultimately sacrificed everything.