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Rusty Guinn

Rusty Guinn

Co-Founder and CEO

Rusty Guinn is co-Founder and CEO of Second Foundation Partners, LLC, and has been a contributing author to Epsilon Theory since 2017.

Before Ben and Rusty established Second Foundation, Rusty served in a variety of investment roles in several organizations. He managed and operated a $10+ billion investment business, led investment strategy for the second largest wealth management franchise in Houston, and sat on the management committee of the 6th largest public pension fund in the United States.

Most recently, Rusty was Executive Vice President over the retail and institutional asset management businesses at Salient Partners in Houston, Texas. There he oversaw the 5-year restructuring and transition of Salient’s $10 billion money management business from legacy fund-of-funds products to a dedicated real assets franchise.

He previously served as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Opportunistic Investments at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a $12 billion portfolio spanning public and private investments. Rusty also served as a portfolio manager for TRS’s externally managed global macro hedge fund and long-only equity portfolios. He led diligence, process development and the allocation of billions of dollars across a wide range of indirect and principal investments.

Rusty’s career also includes roles with de Guardiola Advisors, an investment bank serving the asset management industry, and Asset Management Finance, a specialized private equity investor in asset management companies.

He is a graduate of the Wharton School, and lives on a farm in Fairfield, Connecticut with wife Pam and sons Winston and Harry. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Houston Youth Symphony, and with Pam has been a long-time supporter and founding Friend of the Houston Shakespeare Festival. He also serves as a member of the Easton Volunteer Fire Company in Easton, Connecticut. Rusty spends his free time smoking meat, working his apple orchard, enjoying whisky, badly butchering progressive rock drumming and jeopardizing long-term relationships through high-stakes board games.

Articles by Rusty:

The Only Winning Move

By Rusty Guinn | July 19, 2019 | 11 Comments

It’s privacy and big tech again in today’s Zeitgeist, which is all about mutually assured surveillance. And for Epsilon Theory, it hits home. I think it will hit home for you, too.

The Problem with Brussels Sprouts

By Rusty Guinn | July 17, 2019 | 17 Comments

Some things are only palatable when they have been transformed into a cartoonish version of themselves. For financial professionals that raises a moral question: how much emphasis on the Cartoon of expertise about us is too much?

Mailbag: A Modern Vocational Curriculum

By Rusty Guinn | July 16, 2019 | 2 Comments

We get a lot of email and responses, but we REALLY got a lot about our comments on a curriculum that could replace the signaling-minded post-secondary degree industry. We publish them here.

Election Index: Beyond the Debates – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 10, 2019 | 2 Comments

The first debates have come and gone, and winners and losers identified. Yet in Narrative world, we see a slightly different story. We learn about it in the June 30th edition of Epsilon Theory’s Election Index.

Office Hours – 7.9.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 9, 2019 | Comments Off on Office Hours – 7.9.2019

It’s the July 9th Office Hours, where we dive into all things Libra, Facebook and get an update on market narratives.

Raking it in

By Rusty Guinn | July 8, 2019 | 0 Comments

A few months ago, we noted how important it had become for public figures and corporations to control their own cartoon, lest someone control it for them. Well, now that advice has itself become the narrative. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

US Fiscal Policy Monitor – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 6, 2019 | Comments Off on US Fiscal Policy Monitor – 6.30.2019

Access the Powerpoint slides of this month’s ET Pro monitors here. Access the PDF version of the ET Pro monitor slides here. Access the underlying Excel data here.…

Trade and Tariffs Monitor – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Trade and Tariffs Monitor – 6.30.2019

Access the Powerpoint slides of this month’s ET Pro monitors here. Access the PDF version of the ET Pro monitor slides here. Access the underlying Excel data here.…

Central Bank Omnipotence Monitor – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Central Bank Omnipotence Monitor – 6.30.2019

Access the Powerpoint slides of this month’s ET Pro monitors here. Access the PDF version of the ET Pro monitor slides here. Access the underlying Excel data here.…

Inflation Monitor – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Inflation Monitor – 6.30.2019

Access the Powerpoint slides of this month’s ET Pro monitors here. Access the PDF version of the ET Pro monitor slides here. Access the underlying Excel data here.…