Bernard S. Donefer
Associate Director
Subotnick Financial Services Center
Wasserman Trading Floor

Distinguished Lecturer
Department of Statistics and Computer Information Systems

One Bernard Baruch Way
151 East 25th Street
Box H-125
New York, NY 10010-5585
(646) 312-1545
bernard.donefer@baruch.cuny.edu

Biographical Information

Bernard Donefer's lengthy career in the financial services industry included work with banks, securities firms and exchanges in the US, Europe and Asia where he held senior management positions including the presidency of two international financial software firms.   He is Associate Director of the Subotnick Financial Services Center at the Zicklin School at Baruch College, where he is a Distinguished Lecturer.  In addition to his work at Baruch, he is Adjunct Associate Professor at the NYU Stern Graduate Business School and Fellow of their Center for Digital Economy Research.  He volunteers with  Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) in development and training.

At Baruch since January 2003, Prof Donefer teaches IT in Financial Markets and Risk Management Systems in the Zicklin MBA program.  At the Subotnick Center, he teaches workshops in  Options, Futures and Technical Analysis, using the data and analytics facilities of the Wasserman Trading Floor.  Prof. Donefer was the faculty advisor to the RentBid project, which won the Baruch Entrepreneurial and the NYC Microsoft Imagine Cup competitions. 

He has acted as a volunteer advisor or board member to
Artists for Humanity , St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Poets in the Schools, Volunteers for the Arts and the Volunteer Urban Consulting Group.  He holds an MBA in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business.

Previously, at Fidelity Investments in Boston, as SVP and head of Capital Markets Systems, he implemented one of the industry's first straight through processing (STP) equity trading environments. He was also responsible for their algorithmic trading, fixed-income, foreign exchange, market making and mid-office systems, client and marketplace connectivity and their proprietary real time VaR based credit and market risk management system. 

Prof. Donefer is principal of Conatum Consulting, LLC , where his consulting clients include US and foreign stock exchanges, asset managers, international banks and major global securities firms.  Prof. Donefer has consulted and appeared as an expert in intellectual property and software patent cases.  His Risk Management for Non-QuantsSM and Capital Markets BootCampSM public programs have been oversubscribed and have been  presented in New York, Boston and Chicago. Custom versions of both seminars have been given to corporate clients in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., including the SEC, DTCC and Federal Reserve Bank.  A frequent industry speaker and commentator, Prof. Donefer chaired and moderated panels at algo and hedge fund trading conferences on the challenges, risks and opportunities of electronic trading in global markets.  He has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, by Reuters in both print and TV, BBC World Service, Investors Business DailyNikkei CNBC in Japan, Australian public radio, among others.  His paper  "Algos Gone Wild"  appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of the Journal of Trading.

Academic Appointments

  • Adjunct Associate Professor, NYU Stern Graduate School of Business
  • Formerly, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Fordham Graduate School of Business

Research Interests

  • Risk management
  • Market microstructure
  • Trading systems - algorithmic, high frequency, alternative trading systems, order management, etc.   
Courses Taught Reading List

I am often asked about further readings and useful websites for my courses.  Here is a personal list of suggestions:
Readings and Websites  

Recent Press Citations

New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, MIT Technology Review, The Atlantic Magazine, BBC World Service, Australian Public Radio, Securities Industry News, Reuters, Guardian UK, Advanced Trader, Wall Street and Technology, Wall Street Letter and Nikkei Shimbun Japan and others

2011

NYSE Plans "Dark Orders" for Retail Customers, Financial Times, October 12, 2011
Prof Tracks Auto Crash Trades, New York Convergence, August 9, 2011
Computer Systems Run World Economy , American Public Radio, August 9, 2011
A Beating of Wings, (Italian and English), Il Sole 24 Ore, May 19, 2011
HFT Methodologies and Market Impact , Review of Futures Markets, Vol 19 # 1, 2011
Trading Spike Seen Just Before ADP Report , Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2011

2010

Das Digitale Herz des Kapitalismus (in German) , Wissen Magazine Switzerland, November 21, 2010
The Limits of Algo Trading , Deutsche Borse Business Journal, 3Q2010
SEC Focuses on Market Makers , Financial Times, November 9, 2010
Trading Pennies into $7B Drives HFT Cowboys , Bloomberg, October 6, 2010
Debate on Crash and Its Causes , Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2010
Flash Crash Report Too Long in the Making , Reuters Insider, Video, October 1, 2010
Flash Crash , Australian Broadcasting Co. (Radio), August 29,2010
No Such Thing as HFT ,Tabb Forum, August 24,2010
Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts , Money Web South Africa, August 12,2010
Adventures in Algorithmic Trading , Asset International, August 5,2010
Monsters in the Market , The Atlantic Magazine, July/August 2010
Automated Trading Compounds Selloff , Yahoo News Room, May 7, 2010
Computers Blamed for Wall Street Crash , New Scientist, May 2010
Exposing the Identity of Dark Pools , Advanced Trader, March 1, 2010
Algos Gone Wild , Journal Of Trading, Spring 2010
Trading Shares in Milliseconds , MIT Technology Review, Jan. 2010
Algos Gone Wild , Advanced Trader, Jan. 14, 2010
Market Data Roundtable , Streambase Webinar, Jan. 21, 2010

2009

Algos Gone Wild (TV Interview) , Reuters TV Interview Nov. 2009
SEC Rules to Make Dark Pools Disclose Data , Investors Business Daily Oct. 21, 2009
Ultra High Speed Share Trading , BBC World Service (Radio), Sep. 2,2009
Wall Street Secrets , New York Times, Aug. 24,2009
Real Time Racing , Risk Professional GARP, Aug. 2009
StreamBase High Frequency Trading , On-line Webinar, Aug. 12, 2009
Algos Gone Wild , Reuters Blog Commentaries July 21, 2009
Code Green: Goldman Sachs and UBS , Securities Industry News July 20, 2009
The Matrix But With Money , Ars Technica July 27, 2009
Fuzzy Math and Algos , Reuters Blog Commentaries July 31, 2009

                            
Link to additional press citations

Recent Speaking Engagements

  • "Trading Strategies & Technology", Track Chairman, TradeTech, 2012, NYC
  • "Aligning Smart Order and Dark Pool Aggregation Techniques with Trading Strategies", Panel Moderator, TradeTech, 2012, NYC
  • "Multi-Asset Trading Strategies", Panel Moderator, TradeTech, 2012, NYC
  • "Elusive Liquidity: Perceptions, Myths & Realities", Panel Moderator, TradeTech, 2012, NYC
  • "OMS Comparative Analysis: Different Approaches For Out-Of-The-Box and Proprietary Systems",Panel Moderator, TradeTech, 2012, NYC
  • "Operational Risk", Panelist, Conference on Post Crisis Risk Management, Fordham University, 2012, NYC
  • "There Is No Such Thing As HFT", Keynote, Financial Information Services Division, Software & Information Industry Association, General Meeting, 2011, NYC
  • "What are the key conditions that foster HFT growth in the options and futures markets?", Panelist, High Frequency Trading World New York, 2011
  • "Business Development and Front Office Focus", Track Chairman, Trade Tech Architecture, 2011, NYC
  • "Navigating and Managing Infrastructure Investments Transaction As Volumes Increase", Panel Moderator,Trade Tech Architecture, 2011, NYC
  • "The Latency Debate-Defining and Measuring Latency in Today's Marketplace", Panel Moderator, Trade Tech Architecture, 2011, NYC
  • "Realization of Market Data Infrastructure", Panel Moderator, Trade Tech Architecture, 2011, NYC
  • "Next Generation Trading Strategies", Track Chairman, TradeTech USA 2011, NYC
  • "Obtaining Real Time Venue Transparency in Dark Pools", Panel Moderator, TradeTech USA 2011, NYC
  • "Investigating Options Trading Technology and Market Structure of the Future", Panel Moderator, TradeTech USA 2011, NYC
  • "Algo Trading and the May 6th Flash Crash", keynote speaker, Exchange Panel Moderator, Capital Markets Consortium, 2010, NYC
  • "Achieving Best Execution", Track Chairman, TradeTech USA , 2010, NYC
  • "Analyzing Execution Quality To Achieve Best Execution In A Fragmented Market ", Moderator, TradeTech, USA 2010, NYC
  • " Balancing The Use Of Human Intervention And Electronic Trading Tools To Become The Most Profitable Equity Trader ", Moderator, TradeTech USA 2010, NYC
  • "Risks in Electronic Trading", keynote speaker, Exchange Panel Moderator, Capital Markets Consortium, 2010, NYC
  • "Credit Default SWAPS and AIG", invited speaker, Financial Executives International, 2010, NYC
  • "International and Alternative Trading Opportunities", Track Chairman, TradeTech USA 2009, NYC
  • "Using the Latest Trading Strategies and Tools in Emerging Markets to Amplify Returns on Your Desk", Moderator, TradeTech USA 2009, NYC
  • "Managing International Trading for Long Term Profitability in Global Markets", Moderator, TradeTech USA 2009, NYC
  • "Home is Where the Credit Crisis Is", invited speaker, Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys, 2009, NYC
  • "Capital Markets BootCampsm", SEO NYC and Corporate Clients in NYC, Boston, LA and Madrid
  • "Risk Management for Non-Quantssm ", Instructor for 2-day seminars in NYC, Chicago, Toronto, Oxford, UK, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Boston
  • "Credit Default SWAPS and AIG", invited speaker, Financial Executives International, 2010, NYC
  • "International and Alternative Trading Opportunities", Track Chairman, TradeTech USA 2009, NYC
  • "Using the Latest Trading Strategies and Tools in Emerging Markets to Amplify Returns on Your Desk", Moderator, TradeTech USA 2009, NYC
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