Marc Morris - CFO, Cutwater Asset Management (LinkedIn)
Originally posted to LinkedIn on November 27, 2012
I managed Chris indirectly for six years until I left Cutwater Asset Management in 2010. Throughout that time I was always impressed with his knowledge of investment accounting and reporting, creative use of technology, work ethic and high level of integrity.
Chris is very strong in fixed income accounting and was considered the lead investment accounting resource given his knowledge of and experience with the most complex assets and derivatives, particularly his thorough understanding of complicated and ever-changing accounting pronouncements and the mechanics of implementing them. Chris successfully implemented a steady flow of regulatory changes including Sarbanes Oxley, hedge accounting, other-than-temporary impairments, variable interest entities and fair valuation of financial instruments while supporting a fast-growing product segment with limited available resources. Chris took time to understand how future regulations would affect accounting and reporting and how our operations could efficiently incorporate new processes which would allow us to meet new methodologies in a timely manner. Often this involved working with information technology, corporate accounting and internal audit groups to develop and approve changes to processes or to develop customized solutions to interface with existing software.
Chris has kept his skills current, as evidenced by his completion of the Certified Treasury Professional Designation, and applied them to an ever-changing environment in the investment management industry over the last fifteen years, and most recently during major changes at Cutwater itself over the last five years. As the firm began winding down its proprietary investment programs in response to the recent financial crisis, Chris had to unexpectedly deal with new issues such as asset impairment, hedge de-designation and a high volume of asset and derivative sales while consolidating support of other products into his group due to cost efficiency moves.
Chris managed his staff well and experienced unusually low turnover despite their high level of training and thus marketability. His people always spoke highly of him and a number of them advanced into other positions supporting Cutwater’s investment products.
As important as his accomplishments are, I would not be so positive about Chris if it were not for his integrity and concern for his work and employees. Chris always extended himself to ensure that activities were performed correctly and any weaknesses addressed, and promoted the accomplishments of his employees to senior management.