D. Sykes Wilford, Ph.D.
Presently, D. Sykes Wilford holds the W. Frank Hipp Distinguished Chair in Business Administration at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina and is Senior Advisor to Access Corporate Finance in London. With a primary interest in financial economics and global economic trends, his academic and consulting focus is diverse, ranging from specific asset allocation and hedge fund risk management techniques, to longer-term economic and global financial market trends. He is active in consulting for hedge funds, foundations, corporations and banks, as well as, multi-lateral organizations. He is a frequently invited speaker for various entities such as the CME Foundation and the CFA Society, supporting the CFA organization worldwide having spoken in Asia, Europe and North America for the Society.
Sykes has held several positions in academia and business. He was an Economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as well as Chief International Fixed-Income Strategist for Drexel in London. Sykes was also responsible for Chase Manhattan Bank’s interest rate and foreign exchange forecasting activities within the Economics Group, developing and leading the Bank’s central bank relationship program, and its Advanced Financial Risk Analysis (AFRA) program in London and New York developing the building block approach to financial engineering.
Subsequent to his forecasting activities with The Chase Manhattan Bank, Sykes transitioned to trading and derivatives at Chase in London, developing various business lines related to risk management and financial engineering. Later, he instituted and nurtured capabilities concerned with Global Commodity Risk Management and with European Index-linked Derivative Products, as head of these divisions of Chase Manhattan Limited. These units made history, launching the first oil swap. He also founded and managed the Portfolio Strategies Group in London, which created the market’s first portfolio swap. Sykes’ role, besides driving the creation of these products and managing the groups, was to be the public face of the ideas and products world wide.
Following his career at Chase, Sykes focused more on asset management in his role as Chief Investment Officer of Bankers Trust Private Bank and later CDC Investment Management (a NY based hedge fund). He is widely published with over a 100 professional articles and 5 books; as a polished speaker on financial matters he has taught and lectured globally in his various roles at JPM Chase, Bankers Trust, CDC Asset Management, the FRBNY, and in his support for the CFA Institute over 25 years.
