Horizon
Suite 300, Charlotte, NC 28277
Articles by Horizon
Labor Flexes Its Muscle
Robust employment numbers should support equity market strength The job market is crushing it these days. In May, the U.S.…
John DrahzalPresident and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Drahzal is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He oversees the company’s growth and acquisition initiatives and all aspects of the company’s operations, which include investment management, consulting, sales, marketing, technology, finance, and legal.
Mr. Drahzal joined Horizon in 2017 and previously served as President, overseeing all aspects of the firm’s distribution strategy, including sales, marketing, and strategic account management.
Before Horizon, Mr. Drahzal served as President of Reich & Tang, an investment affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management, leading their growth initiatives. Before that, he held various leadership roles at Prudential Investments, eventually named Head of Distribution, responsible for the firm’s mutual fund and separately managed account business. Mr. Drahzal began his career at Victory Asset Management and was part of the leadership team that launched the firm’s mutual fund business.
Mr. Drahzal is a graduate of Skidmore College with a B.S. in Business Administration and of Case Western Reserve University with an M.B.A. in Finance. He holds FINRA Series 7, 63, and 24 licenses.
Scott LadnerChief Investment Officer
Mr. Ladner serves as Chief Investment Officer and Chair of the Investment Committee for Horizon. In these capacities, he oversees all aspects of the Investment Management division for the firm. He also provides the Investment Management division with macro analysis and interpretation of global derivatives, credit, foreign exchange, equity, and funding markets. His previous roles at Horizon included Head of Risk and Director of Quantitative & Alternative Strategies.
Before joining Horizon in 2010, Mr. Ladner was a founder of Charlotte Global Advisors and Principal Guard, LLC. Mr. Ladner helped to launch an equity index volatility and dispersion trading unit at PEΔK6 Investments in Chicago, a proprietary listed option and volatility trading firm. Previously at First Union/Wachovia, Mr. Ladner founded and ran the equity swap and forwards portfolio while managing equity option and volatility portfolios. He also co-founded and managed the Risk Arbitrage and Special Situations portfolio. Mr. Ladner then managed the swaption and cap/floor portion of the bank’s interest rate derivatives portfolio.
Mr. Ladner received his B.A. in Economics and Russian Language & Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Zach Hill, CFA®Head of Portfolio Management
Mr. Hill serves as the Head of Portfolio Management at Horizon. He oversees the implementation and communication of all investment strategies managed by Horizon. Before this role, Mr. Hill served as Global Macro Strategist, where he focused on providing investment insights on asset allocation decisions from a global macro perspective.
Before joining Horizon, Mr. Hill held senior roles with Cold Spring Asset Management in New York and in the Foreign Exchange division of Wachovia/Wells Fargo.
Mr. Hill received a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Physics from the University of Virginia. He is also a CFA® Charterholder.
Mike Dickson, Ph.D.Head of Research and Quantitative Strategies
Dr. Dickson serves as the Head of Research and Quantitative Strategies. He leads Horizon’s systematic strategy and process design for all investment strategies managed by the firm. He also oversees the team’s research efforts focused on quantitative methods to support Horizon’s investment process, risk management, and new product development. Additionally, Dr. Dickson is a Portfolio Manager for several mutual funds and ETFs. He joined Horizon in 2015, and his previous roles included Head of Portfolio Management and Director of Structured Financial Solutions.
Dr. Dickson specializes in systematic index design, portfolio construction, and risk mitigation. During and after his Ph.D. studies, he taught undergraduate and graduate school finance and portfolio management coursework at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Before earning his Ph.D., he worked in financial analysis support roles at Premier, Inc., and Global Compliance.
Dr. Dickson received his B.S. in Chemistry from Winthrop University, an M.S. in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Finance from UNC Charlotte.
Austin Fitch, CFA® Head of Consulting Solutions
Mr. Fitch joined Horizon in January 2011. As Head of Consulting Solutions, he helps clients think creatively about investment solutions while helping advisors innovate and scale their businesses to grow their enterprise value effectively. With areas of portfolio and practice management expertise, Mr. Fitch advises clients on several topics to deliver a comprehensive consulting offering.
Before this role, Mr. Fitch was Head of the Portfolio Strategy Group, managing a team of analysts that provided customized portfolio solutions to many of Horizon’s clients. He has also served as a research analyst at Horizon, providing fundamental research to the Investment Management team and supporting the firm's trading operations and performance measurement functions.
He has also worked on Horizon’s retirement platform offerings and supported the firm’s product development initiatives.
Mr. Fitch holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.A. in Finance from Wofford College. He is a CFA® Charterholder.
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