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

Prof. Donefer enjoyed a 35 year career in the international financial services industry, having worked with banks, exchanges and securities firms in the US, Europe and Asia. 

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 Technical Analysis, Options and Futures markets, using the data and analytics facilities of the Wasserman Trading Floor.  Prof. Donefer was a panelist at the recent international Equity Markets Microstructure Seminar held at Baruch.  Prof. Donefer was the faculty advisor to the RentBid project, which won the 2004 Baruch Entrepreneurial and the NYC Microsoft Imagine Cup competitions.

From 1996 through 2002, Prof. Donefer was SVP and Head of Capital Markets Systems at Fidelity Investments in Boston, implementing 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.

As President of two international software businesses aimed at financial institutions, he developed an early global credit risk system product.  Prior positions included EVP-CIO of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, (now Mizuho Bank), where he was responsible for its operational recovery after the 1993 World Trade Center attack.  He has been consultant to, among others, the New York and Milan Stock Exchanges, Citigroup and Bank of America. Recently, he consulted to two digital economy start-ups.  Prof. Donefer is also principal of Conatum Consulting, LLC , where he teaches and consults to corporate clients and has been an expert witness, testifying in federal court in patent cases regarding trading technology and financial markets.

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. Since 2004, Prof. Donefer has taught an intensive course on the financial markets for  Sponsors for Educational Opportunity , preparing selected undergraduates for their summer internships with participating New York firms.

Prof. Donefer has spoken and written in the US, Europe and Asia on the use of technology in the financial services industry and on risk management system implementation.  He holds an MBA in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business.


Current Academic Appointments
  • Adjunct Associate Professor, NYU Stern Graduate School of Business
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Fordham Graduate School of Business
Research Interests

  • Risk management
  • Market microstructure
  • Trading systems - algorithmic, order management, connectivity, etc. 
Courses Taught
  • CIS 9555 IT in Financial Markets Syllabus
  • CIS 9556 Risk Management Systems  Syllabus
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 

Press Citations

Securities Industry News, Reuters, Guardian UK, Advanced Trader, Wall Street and Technology, Wall Street Letter and Nikkei Shimbun Japan
Link to press citations


Recent Speaking Engagements

  • "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
  • "Trading Algos and Beyond", Chairman, 2008, NYC
  • "eTrading and Risk Management", invited speaker, Trading Algos and Beyond, 2008, NYC
  • "Current Issues in CDO's, CDSs and SIVs", invited speaker, Association of International Bank Auditors ("AIBA"), 2008, NYC 
  • "Risk Management and Electronic Trading", Speaker, FIX Protocol Quarterly Meeting, 2008, 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
  • "Building a Flexible Algo Strategy to Reflect Market Conditions and Trading Tactics", moderator and panelist, TradeTech USA, 2008, NYC
  • Straight From the Source: Integrating DMA Technologies To Bring Additional Liquidity to Your Trading Desk", moderator and panelist, TradeTech USA, 2008, NYC
  • "Execution and Research: Ensuring Your Trading Desk Is Getting the Best of Both Worlds", moderator and panelist, TradeTech USA, 2008, NYC
  • "Just What Are The Pitfalls Of Virtualization Technologies", moderator and panelist, Financial Technology Congress, 2008, NYC
  • "Fourth Annual Conference Best Execution. How to Measure It -- How to Achieve It In a Post-Reg NMS World", Conference Chairman, 2008, NYC
  • "CDSs, CDOs and SIVs", invited speaker, Financial Executives International, ("FEI"), 2008, NYC "Successfully Implementing Virtualization Across the Infrastructure", moderator and panelist, Waters USA, 2007, NYC
  • "By the Trader; For the Trader: How Algorithmic Providers are Solving the Trader's Needs", Conference Chairman, moderator and panelist, Algo Trading 2007, NYC
  • "Introduction to Value at Risk", invited speaker, Performance Measurement 101 for Marketing & Compliance Professionals, 2007 and 2008, NYC
  • "Assessing Trading Risk", Conference Chairman, moderator and panelist , Hedge Fund Trading Forum 2007, NYC
  • "Cross Asset - Cross Instrument Derivatives Trading", Conference Chairman, Moderator of three panels, Trade Tech Derivatives 2007, NYC
  • "Lies Your Professor Taught You", Moderator and speaker, Risk Management, New York Society of Securities Analysts, 2007, NYC
  • "Capital Markets BootCampsm", SEO NYC and Corporate Clients in NYC, Boston, LA and Madrid
  • "Challenges and Opportunities of Electronic Trading in Global Markets", Panelist, 2007 Global Securities Trading Forum, NYC
  • "Changes in Market Structure Focus Summit", Chair, Moderator and Speaker, Trade Tech 2007, NYC 
  • "2006 in the Life of the NYSE", Invited Speaker, Financial Executives International, 2007, NYC 
  • "What the Trader Wants: Essential Applications for Managing the Trading Desk's Expectations", Moderator and Panelist, Algo Trading 2006
  • "Hedge Fund Risk Management", Moderator and Panelist, Hedge Fund Trading, NYC 2006
  • "Developments in Algorithmic Trading & Advanced Electronic Trading", Moderator and Panelist, Derivatives and Securities World, NYC 2006
  • "Achieving Consistency in TCA", Moderator and Panelist, Transaction Cost Analysis 2006, NYC
  • "The Future of Stock Exchanges", Conference Chairman and Moderator, Trade Tech 2006, NYC
  • "Transaction Cost Research: Analyzing the True Cost of a Trade and Ensuring Best Execution", Moderator and Panelist, Trading Technology:Advanced Execution Strategies, NYC 2006
  • “Re-Examining Best Execution and Liquidity in Light of Regulatory Developments and Industry/Technology Advances”, Moderator and Panelist, Conference on Advanced Execution Strategies, 2005, NYC
  • "Hype in Algorithmic Trading", Panelist, Algorithmic Trading Best Practices 2005, NYC
  • "Planning Your STP Budget", Panelist, Wall Street and Technology STP Conference, NYC
  • "Trends in the Financial Services Industry", Baruch College, CUNY, Impact of Technology Conference
  • "Issues in Implementing Risk Management Systems", NYU Stern School of Business, guest lecturer
  • "How OMS's Can Add Value in a Direct Access World", IT in Financial Services Conference, San Diego
  • "The Use of IT to Address The Mutual Fund Crisis", Baruch College, CUNY, Honors Program
  • "Straight Through Processing - From Buy Side to Settlement", STP Conference, NYC
  • "Requirements Gathering with Use Cases", Fidelity Center for Advanced Technology, Boston
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