A creative problem-solver by nature, Jarvis Buckman focused on math, science, and engineering since he was young. He earned his B.S. in Industrial Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University in 2003. A student-athlete, Jarvis also earned the Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship, the Eisenhower Watch, and varsity letters in wrestling and track

After graduating from Columbia, Jarvis accepted an analyst position on the Credit Hybrid Products team at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Over the next three years, Jarvis structured synthetic CDO products and helped build a multi-billion dollar product platform for customized structured notes and was promoted to associate for his achievements.

Following his time at JPM, Jarvis held the title of Vice President in the structured products teams at Societe Generale Americas Securities (SG) and Credit Agricole (CA). At SG, Jarvis created a new trading strategy that revolutionized the team’s product capabilities and resulted in $5 million in revenue in the second half of 2006. At CA, Jarvis boosted the company’s index correlation business to a top 5 position on Wall Street league tables in terms of notional trade.

In his time as a structured product professional, Jarvis Buckman collaborated with close to one hundred accounts, executing over $30 billion in transactions and working across numerous client segments. While the largest segment was Hedge Funds, a solid 18% of his historic account activity was with Banks/Insurance/Pension accounts, while the remaining 2% was with Monolines/Derivative Product Companies.

After these experiences, Jarvis desired to focus on fundamental analysis and value investing. Accordingly, he returned to Columbia University, earning an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School.

After earning his MBA, Jarvis served as a distressed credit analyst at Credit Suisse (CS). In this role he would advise the trading desk on risk management of existing positions and identify strategic opportunities to provide value to both clients and the franchise simultaneously. Additionally, Jarvis was instrumental in CS’s bankruptcy claim trading business, managing all aspects of the process. After CS, Jarvis worked as a distressed investing analyst at Knighthead Capital Management, LLC where he developed investment schemes to exploit unique investment opportunities that arise across capital structures in complex distressed situations. 

After his tenure at Knighthead, Jarvis accepted the role of Director of Special Situations at Parabellum Capital, a litigation funding firm.  While at Parabellum, Jarvis utilized his years of structuring investment alternatives and analyzing and interpreting distressed situations to identify investment opportunities with a litigation catalyst and then design unique investment formats to capture them.  Jarvis was also the driving force in developing Parabellum’s risk management and valuation methodologies.  His efforts helped facilitate explosive growth in the platform, which roughly tripled in size over his 4 year tenure.

Currently, all of Jarvis Buckman’s energy is focused on the advancement of a joint venture he co-founded called Leste Determinant Capital (LDC). Building on Jarvis’ experience in structured products, distressed investing, and litigation finance, LDC seeks to capture value in inefficient asset classes through the use of customized investment structures. 

Outside of finance, Jarvis Buckman has a deep interest in public education. In the past, he taught a ten-week volunteer class titled “The Wealth and Citizen Workshop” that educated intrigued students about personal finance as well as personal finance’s role in the economy. By taking the necessary time to offer his insight to the younger generation, he offered practical perspective that students absorbed and used in forming their own opinion(s).

To learn more about Jarvis Buckman, visit his other site, JarvisBuckman.org.