Vito D. Gala
Global Head of Systematic Investing & Quantitative Research | UChicago Booth Professor | Author & Speaker
Ex-PIMCO, Credit Suisse, Bain | Former Wharton & LBS Professor
Global Head of Systematic Investing & Quantitative Research | UChicago Booth Professor | Author & Speaker
Ex-PIMCO, Credit Suisse, Bain | Former Wharton & LBS Professor
I am the Global Head of Systematic Investing and Quantitative Research at Morningstar Investment Management LLC, where I lead the firm’s global systematic investing business and platform, spanning data, research, development, and portfolio management of quantitative investment strategies. I am responsible for growing and leading a global team of quantitative researchers, developers, engineers and portfolio managers, as well as building the firm’s data, research and trading infrastructure. I serve as senior member of the Quantitative Strategies and Americas Investment Committees.
I am Adjunct Professor of Finance at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where I teach courses in quantitative investing and C-suite investment leadership executive education programs. I am actively engaged in academic research and serve as an expert reviewer for leading peer-reviewed journals, research funding agencies, and finance conferences.
Previously at PIMCO, I led the research and development of advanced predictive methods, valuation models, and quantitative investment strategies across global multi-asset markets. I was responsible for developing and overseeing PIMCO's alpha capture initiatives, including the firmwide platform for analyzing portfolio managers’ trading and forecasting activity. I oversaw research for PIMCO's partnership with the Center of Decision Research at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and served as senior advisor on multiple committees.
Prior to joining PIMCO, I was a finance professor at The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and London Business School, with research interests in asset pricing, investment, macro-finance, quantitative investment strategies, and applied econometrics. My research has been presented at over 180 academic conferences, seminars, and industry events worldwide, and has been recognized with numerous grants and awards, including the Crowell Memorial Third Prize from PanAgora Asset Management for the study on the impact of fiscal policies and political cycles on stock returns. My studies on the relationship between investment and returns have been awarded twice the Lehman Brothers Fellowship for Research Excellence in Finance Finalist Prize. My work has appeared in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Empirical Finance, and Journal of Monetary Economics, and edited volumes, such as the Handbook of the Equity Risk Premium, and has been featured in major media outlets including the Financial Times and Forbes.
I have been teaching extensively across undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, doctoral, and executive education programs at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, London Business School and The Wharton School. Earlier in my career, I worked in the Financial Institutions Group at Credit Suisse and was previously a consultant at Bain & Company.
I have over 25 years of academic and financial services experience. I graduated summa cum laude with double honors in financial economics from Bocconi University and hold an MBA and PhD in Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.