Jahiz Barlas

Work Experience

Vice President (Executive), Research Analyst, Multi Asset Solutions, AllianceBernstein L.P. August 2017-Present

Working on strategic and dynamic asset allocation, glide paths, return and risk forecasting and other topics

Vice President, Head of Macroeconomics & Asset Allocation, Multi-Asset Research, MSCI Inc. Aug 2013–Jul 2017

· Creator/Supervisor of MSCI Macroeconomic Models/Stress Tests & Macroeconomics Expert: Supervised research-to-production cycle of MSCI’s award-winning Macroeconomic Risk models’*; Designed country-specific macroeconomic forecasting/nowcasting and simulation models using mixed-frequency Bayesian Vector Autoregressions (BVARs); Produced and back-tested archival/current forecasts; Formulated and back-tested equilibrium asset pricing models to produce macroeconomic factor signals; Built global BVAR models to construct global covariances and country-country shock spillover mechanism; Designed topical, macroeconomic stress tests using MAC portfolios

· Principle Architect of MSCI Wealth Management/Asset Allocation Models & Wealth Management Expert: Engineered novel discrete state-space methods to construct strategic, dynamic, lifecycle optimal portfolios; Researched, executed and validated MAC glidepaths for DB/DC plans, TDFs and high-net worth clients; Constructed optimal MAC portfolios customized to human capital, sectors, longevity, wealth and income levels; Developed Monte-Carlo based methodology to monitor financial goals progress; Authored research and implementation documents for developers/sales/marketing

· Experienced and Accomplished Presenter: Presented at conferences/seminars, client/strategy meetings on topics in macroeconomics, asset allocation, wealth management, asset pricing, currency strategies and multi-asset factors/ indexes

Research Analyst, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis 2009–2012

· Upgraded, maintained and validated Minneapolis FED’s structural VAR macroeconomic forecasting model

· Empirically analyzed leading economic theories in multiple projects for the President and the Board of Directors

· Constructed, analyzed and calibrated annuities dataset for dynamic asset pricing models of insurance

Selected Publications

· “Lifecycle Portfolio Choice and Pension Fund Design” Heller-Hurwicz Institute, University of Minnesota 2016

· “The MSCI Macroeconomic Risk Model”, “How Brexit May Impact Your Portfolio” MSCI Inc. 2016

Education

Ph.D Economics, University of Minnesota, “Essays in Intangible Capital Reallocation, M&As and Financial Frictions” 2013

· Intangible capital reallocation produces large, amplified macroeconomic losses through financial shocks; Developed and solved rational expectations, heterogeneous-agent macro models using dynamic, stochastic optimization methods

· Established evidence of strong acquirer productivity gains after M&As using equity factor regressions with big data; Experienced in regressions, MLE, dynamic and structural estimation, panel unit root tests and other statistical methods

B.S. Pure Mathematics & B.A. (Honors) Economics, University of Texas at Austin 2007

Programming Skills

Matlab,Python, SQL, Stata, Java, RATS

Honors and Distinctions

Buy-side Award for Innovation (Risk.net); Quoted in Financial Times, “Quarter of investors think Brexit is likely” 2016

University of Minnesota: Grad Research Partnership Program Fellow, Grad Fellowship, Distinguished Teacher 2007-2013

University of Texas at Austin: Junior Fellow, Rapoport-King Scholar, Research Fellowships, Assistant Editor 2004-2007

References

Available on request