John C. Simmons,

"I enjoy helping clients in much the same way I have helped large institutions navigate their investing challenges for more than two decades."

As Deputy Chief Investment Officer, John brings more than 25 years of investment experience to StrategIQ. In this role, John helps set investment strategy for the entire organization and leads the firm’s third-party investment manager due diligence, selection, and structuring processes. He also is involved in advisory and business development efforts.

Previously, John served as a Senior Strategist, Lead Client Portfolio Manager, and Senior Analyst for the Global Macro team at a global investment management firm. In those roles, John helped grow the team’s assets under management to more than $2.5 Billion across four capabilities. He also managed several analytical frameworks within the team’s multi-stage investment process and helped set team-wide strategy as a member of the Operating Committee. He oversaw all team communications and publications, led the initiative to globally diversify the team’s investor base, and served in firm-wide leadership roles as a member of the Investment Committee, the Composite Committee, and the ESG Leadership Team.

John formerly served as lead investment consultant to a variety of large, sophisticated institutional asset owners including corporate and public pension plans, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, and Taft-Hartley plans. John also served as portfolio manager for three global multi-asset, multi-manager mutual funds, winning a coveted Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award. He also co-founded a firm that managed bespoke risk-controlled investment strategies on behalf of institutional clients, which he subsequently helped successfully merge and integrate into what is now one of the largest investment management firms in the world.

John has authored or co-authored a number of macro investing-related white papers and blog posts, and has been quoted numerous times in various financial and investment periodicals.

In addition to his investment career, John has served on a variety of civic, charitable, professional, educational, and social boards and committees following his retirement from a career in professional baseball. John, his wife, two children, and two English Bulldogs are all great lovers of music. John is an avid golfer and enjoys exercising and staying active when he isn’t watching his beloved Bears during the winter and White Sox during the summer.

John’s Qualifications

• Education
  • BA, cum laude, English Literature, Saint Xavier University
  • MBA, Finance, Saint Xavier University
• Awards
  • Refinitiv Lipper Award Winner: Best Mixed-Asset Target Allocation Fund
• Selected Publications
  • The Case For Macro
  • Macro Diversification: The Case for Active Currency
  • Macro Diversification: Capitalizing on a Clear and Present Opportunity in Target Date Funds
  • Game Theory Primer for Macro Investors
  • Risk Management: A Rigorous Art
  • Navigating a Troop of Gorillas
  • Adventures on the Planet of the Apes: Navigating the Low-Rate Environment
• Professional Designations
  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder — CFA Institute
  • Applied Responsible Investment Certificate — PRI Academy