Ric Thomas

Biography

Ric is an instructor in the Finance department and is a faculty advisor and Board member for the Finance and Investing Club. Before joining Suffolk University in 2019, Ric spent 20+ years in the investment management industry. He was the Global Head of Investment Strategy and Research for State Street Global Advisors in Boston, after serving as the Global Head of quantitative equity portfolio management. During his career, Ric led investment teams that managed up to $200 Billion in assets. Currently, Ric serves as a Senior Advisor to the World Bank, where he works with both the Disaster Risk Finance and Asset Allocation groups. He is also involved in several private start-up businesses.

Ric serves as Chairman of the Board for the Colorado State University Foundation and is a Senior Mentor for the Sapere Aude Consortium, a research organization providing internships to first generation college students interested in financial services

Honors and Recognitions

• 2019 Outstanding Article, Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award for “Asset Allocation vs. Factor Allocation – Can we Build a Unified Method?” published in Journal of Portfolio Management in 2018
• Nominated for Research Paper of the Year, 2011 William F. Sharpe Award, for “Should Institutional Investors Own Gold?” published in Journal of Investing

Professional Activities

• Editorial Board, Journal of Investing, 2015 - present
• Chairman of Board, Colorado State University Foundation, 2011 - present
• Advisory Board, Valspresso (a Fintech Company from Reston, Virginia), 2019 - present

Publications

Recent Intellectual Contributions

Refereed Journal Articles

Bender, Jennifer, Jerry Le Sun and Ric Thomas (2019), “Asset Allocation vs. Factor Allocation – Can We Build a Unified Method?” The Journal of Portfolio Management, Multi-Asset Special Issue, 45 (2), 9-22.

Bender, Jennifer, Xiaole Sun, Ric Thomas and Volodymyr Zdorovtsov (2018), “The Promises and Pitfalls of Factor Timing”, The Journal of Portfolio Management, Quantitative Special Issue 2018, 44 (4) 79-92.

McKay, Shawn, Robert Shapiro, and Ric Thomas (2018), “What Free Lunch? The Costs of Overdiversification”, Financial Analysts Journal. 74 (1), 44-58.

Intellectual Contributions

• Eric Thomas' intellectual contributions [PDF]

Media Highlights

• Overdiversification taking a toll on performance @Pensions&Investments.com
• In HP-Xerox Dance, The Next Move Belongs To HP, Expert Says @CRN.com