Very Long Bio
1950s
Late
–
The Uruguayan Connection
My father, the cute kid on the right, leaves Montevideo, where he was born, together with his father, the stern rabbi on the left. My dad eventually made his way to Baltimore (MD) and then Toronto, where I was born. At that time, a selfie next to an Air France sign was cool (as was the airline). Not anymore. I have returned many times to visit and teach in Montevideo, but not with Air France.
1967
April
–
Born in Toronto, Canada
I was born a few weeks before the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup for the first and (as of yet) only time during my lifetime, beating the Montreal Canadiens in Game six. Family lore has it my father wanted my mother induced early, to ensure he didn’t miss the playoffs. Perhaps that is what cursed them for the last 60 years. (P.S. Mom, Me & Enzo. First haircut.)
1990
May
–
Aiming at the Planets
Graduated with a BA from Yeshiva University in New York City, with a major in Mathematics and Minor in Physics. Note that at this point in my life, I had never taken a course in finance or accounting. In fact, my plan was to enrol in graduate school and become a professor of gravitational physics or astronomy. (P.S. There were no jobs in that field.) Eventually, my father-in-law nudged me towards a more practical career.
1991
December
–
Geeks, Good Cheer & Statistics
While enrolled in a graduate program in Mathematics & Statistics at York University, our brilliant Professor Claudia Czado invited us to a Christmas party at her house in December 1991. I survived the party and her (brutal) advanced statistics course — though not the ugly sweater vest — and graduated with an MA in June 1992. And yes, if you were wondering, that was the demographic composition back then as well.
1994
December
–
My First ‘Media’ Appearance
In what is the likely the first time I was ever cited in the media, this article discusses (and simplifies) a chapter of my 1996 Ph.D. thesis — written under the supervision of Professor Eliezer Prisman — on the impact of income taxes on the pricing of derivative securities. Bottom line: Income taxes are not only a nuisance to pay, but they also distort option pricing. Weird things happen, like American’s trade for less than Europeans, etc.
1996
June
–
I Got My First Ph.D.
At the convocation ceremony for my (first) Ph.D. in Financial Economics, from York University, the person not wearing that odd-looking red robe from medieval times, is my grandfather Hillel Mannes. He really encouraged me to get thru-and-out of graduate school, quickly, because he himself was unable to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Berlin in the 1930s. (But, as he reminded me many times, at least he got thru-and-out of Germany, before…yeah.)
1996
October
–
Stocks for the Retiree’s Long Run
Using Monte Carlo simulations in a personal finance research project — and one of the first — the beardless and portly one on the right is me. My co-researchers Chris Robinson and Kwok Ho are in my tiny office. The photographer is standing on my desk. Anyway, our research found that (surprise, surprise) a globally diversified portfolio of stocks is a good investment, even if you are retired. The Globe & Mail took notice, and so did many retirees and their financial advisors. I gave many lectures on that one. (It paid for the house.)
1997
March
–
Paul Samuelson Cuts-Me-Down to Size
Received a review from the Nobel laureate and economist Professor Paul Samuelson, in which he completely ‘destroyed my paper’ on using probability of ruin as a criteria for decision-making in retirement planning. I also learned that all great economists retire to Florida. Sadly, it took me twenty years to realize how right he was (on both). He ended his letter with “science progresses funeral by funeral.” I attempted penance, absolution and last rights with this article in the Financial Analysts Journal.
1998
March
–
Welcome to the Fields Institute
Gave my first invited seminar at the world-renowned Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences in Toronto. The paper “Pricing Asian Options using the Gamma Distribution” (co-authored with Steven Posner) had absolutely nothing to do with the Asian Financial crisis, which apparently disappointed a number of people in the audience, and the US state department. That invitation inaugurated an extremely fruitful and productive relationship with Fields over the next 20 years. I ended-up serving on the board of directors, incubating two start-ups, and elected a Fellow of the Fields Institute. I guess I’m a mathematician.
1999
January
–
My First Book is Published
I was warned by senior academics at my University, early-on in my career, to only focus on writing dense scholarly articles, publishing them in the ‘right’ journals and to avoid writing any popular books. Otherwise, they said, I wouldn’t get tenure. I ignored them (and have always had difficulty with authority.) This book went on to become a Canadian best seller, though, sadly the publisher eventually went bankrupt. P.S. Don’t expect to make any money from writing books.
2001
March
–
Float Your Mortgage
I authored a mortgage study (yes, that one) on whether Canadians are better off financing the purchase of a house with a floating interest rate, versus a 5-year fixed rate. Well, technically, better 88% of the time. That result — which was never published! — has been quoted, debated, questioned, misunderstood and cited again in hundreds of newspaper articles over the subsequent 25 years. Gosh, had I known then, I would have written that very differently.
2001
August
–
Life is More Random Than You Thought
My most widely cited and quoted academic paper, which was published in the prestigious Insurance: Mathematics & Economics journal, was joint work with my actuarial mentor, senior colleague and friend David Promislow. At the time, I had no idea this would “impact” the actuarial field, but stochastic mortality and longevity models are now standard. Options on longevity are much more valuable than you think.
2002
March
–
Stress in the Sunshine State
Of all the consulting projects I ever worked on, this one in Tallahassee was definitely up there on the stress & pressure list. I was asked to select the “best annuities” for the State’s new Defined Contribution (DC) plan, as an alternative to their Defined Benefit (DB) plan. Back then there was limited shelf space, and every company wanted in. Another problem is that selling SPIAs isn’t very profitable, while others get an allergic reaction to the word annuity.
2004
January
–
Columnist for the National Post Magazine
Was asked by Tony Keller (the editor, at the time) to write a monthly column. A number of the articles I wrote for the National Post magazine during 2003, were nominated for awards. One of them — something to do with mortgages and housing, no doubt — earned the gold medal from the National Magazine Awards Foundation in Canada. It’s by far the biggest plaque on my office wall, and takes-up a lot of real estate.
2005
January
–
Stock Picking Pays Off
I won The Globe and Mail stock picking competition for three years in a row (2002, 2003, 2004). I then ‘retired’ and published an article to explain how to win, co-authored with Tom Salisbury. He is hands-down the best probabilist in the world, and he taught me most of what I know about stochastic processes. Hint: Try high idiosyncratic volatility with negative correlations and low prices. Though, perhaps what I should have done, was leverage all that publicity and open-up a hedge fund.
2006
May
–
Best Dinner Ever
Had the honour to break bread with Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, Roger Ibbotson, Peng Chen and Steve Henkel, in Chicago, as part of my investment and insurance consulting work for Ibbotson Associates, before they were purchased by Morningstar. Other than eating, I kept my mouth shut and listened. Though, I can only image what the wine tab was.
2007
January
–
I Got a Graham & Dodd
Received the Graham & Dodd scroll award from the editors of the Financial Analysts Journal, for my co-authored article “Human Capital, Asset Allocation and Life Insurance.” By now that has become the standard way of ‘thinking’ about personal investing and insurance, together and not as separate domains. And, much to the chagrin of all CFA Level III candidates, they must now struggle thru all that math.
2008
May
–
Life Insurance is Just a Hedge
This article, which was published in the Journal of Banking and Finance, was one of the first to rigorously show how to add different types of life insurance and longevity annuities into a continuous-time mathematical framework. (Or, the way I see it, our JBF cleaned-up the loose ends in the FAJ.) Practical insight? It seems tenured business professors with safe human capital need more protection, all else being equal. Their investment banking students, on the other hand, not so much.
2009
May
–
Pensions in New Mexico
I was appointed by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, to the Retirement Systems Solvency Task Force. Although I didn’t serve very long in this capacity, and it was a volunteer position, I did learn a heck-of-a-lot about the interaction of pensions & politics. Lesson: Politicians do not like the market-valuation of liabilities. I also learned that when I retire, I want to buy a ranch in Taos, NM.
2010
October
–
Prophet of Doom in White
Designated the Guru of Worry, while wearing a very unfashionable white suit, in a full profile in York University magazine. Yes, my Jewish genes make my susceptible to anxiety, but no, I didn’t pick the headline. Basically, risk-adjusting all financial outcomes is very important. You are much luckier than you think, you have less skill than you thought, etc.
2013
April
–
QWEMA Goes to CANNEX
I sold my first InsurTech (before it was fashionable to use that term) start-up company QWEMA Group to CANNEX Financial in Toronto. In that complex legal and financial process I learned how real-world business actually works, versus the stuff they teach you in school. I was quite proud that all our employees moved over to work at CANNEX in Toronto. And, I remained on the board and a major shareholder for a few years after that, until the founder (and I) got tired.
2013
July
–
Going Back for the Future
I got infected with the history ‘bug’ soon-after I visited the (UK) National Archives, Kew, Richmond. This is the — over 300 year old — charter of the Bank of England. The long list of people are all the investors who bought shares in the bank, back in the 1690s. Why create a Bank of England? Well, investors were sick-and-tired of Kings who defaulted on their debts (and the topic of my 2017 book).
2014
January
–
A Confession Earns Awards
My writing on variable, fixed, immediate and deferred annuities for RESEARCH magazine in the US earned two Azbee Awards of Excellence from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). I am told reprints of that issue were distributed and used by annuity wholesalers for years. (P.S. All those copies are sitting in dentist’s waiting rooms now.)
2015
February
–
Mo Goes to the Land of Mao
My book “Are you a stock or a bond?” is published in Mandarin, though I’m told by people who actually speak the language that the translation of the title and even the book content itself is extremely loose. Note. With me, are my four pension annuities, MAM, DDM, NAM and ZRM although only one can pay-out in Yuan.
2017
March
–
Performing in an Opera House
I always wanted to sing in Donizetti’s La fille du regiment, but this was second best. I gave my (approximately) 1,000th public lecture to financial advisors and planners for Investors Group. The location is just outside of Toronto, but I’m still hoping the NY Metropolitan Opera calls one day.
2017
August
–
Tontines and Coke in the Townships
Visited South Africa, to help launch a community tontine in the townships of Soweto, together with the young entrepreneurs at NOBUNTU. Although I didn’t understand much of the discussion, the longevity deal was as follows. In exchange for a lump sum, you received one (dead) chicken and two (live) bottles of coca cola every month, forever. Not a joke.
2017
August
–
King Billy Wins Big
Honoured, excited and somewhat surprised that my (history) book on King William’s Tontine was awarded the 2017 Kulp-Wright book of the year award for contributions to Risk Management and Insurance, by the American Risk and Insurance Association. It was the first book focused on history to win this award over its history. Long live King Billy!
2017
September
–
Chronological Age is Different from Biological Age
After testing my own biological age, and finding it was lower than my chronological age, I realized we needed a theory (and the world needed another paper) on how to calibrate decumulation and retirement plans to your true age. I’m quite proud of this work with my long-term collaborators Tom Salisbury and Huaxiong Huang. In fact, if I had to guess, this one will be cited for a while.
2018
May
–
Longevity with Oldest People in the World
Every single conference in Asia requires a final group photo at the very end, or (as my teenagers say) it didn’t happen. This is the Spring meeting of the OECD, that is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Tokyo. To be very honest, I don’t quite remember what I spoke about, jet lag and all. Something to do with retirement.
2018
June
–
Best Lunch Ever
If my best dinner was in 2006 with Kahneman and Thaler, then my best lunch was in 2018, with the great, kind and brilliant Professor Menachem Yaari in Jerusalem. His foundational model on the human lifecycle, insurance and annuities has been used and cited thousands of times.
2018
July
–
Ho, Milevsky & Robinson Reunite
Lovely re-union with two of my earliest co-authors, Chris Robinson and Kwok Ho, at a Financial Planning Research conference. You never forget your very “first one” (co-authors, that is.) Note how we all aged over the 20 years that have gone by, though the original papers haven’t aged as badly.
2019
April
–
Invited to Speak at Brookings
Was invited to speak about (what else) retirement income planning, in Washington DC, at the prestigious Brookings. I also had my first appearance on C-SPAN. Though, it’s unclear to me, who exactly watches this channel.
2019
July
–
Invited to Keynote at the IME
Though I have given thousands of lectures and seminars over my life, this keynote lecture at the 2019 Insurance: Mathematics and Economics congress in Munich was special. I had given my very first seminar as a young graduate student at the inaugural IME congress in Amsterdam in 1997. And, here we were over two decades later, and I was asked to be one of the plenary speakers. History, and that is exactly what I spoke about. (P.S. Same pose, different suit.)
2021
August
–
COVID Teaching from Home
During the COVID pandemic, I taught all courses online from my home office. This became rather tedious after a while, so at the tail-end I invited some of the MBA students taking my FINE6050, to my home office for the lecture. (No worries. We put the mask back on right after the photo.)
2021
September
–
Human Capital & Squid Game
My book “Are you a stock or a bond?” is published in Korea (south, ahem), which is the fourth language — that I don’t speak or understand — in which my books were published. Though this one seems to be closer to the original intent.
2021
October
–
¡Viva Los Pensiones!
In my first-ever visit to Madrid, I had the pleasure of speaking at the annual FIAP Conference, which is Federación Internacional de Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones. It also gave me the opportunity to test my Spanish abilities. Based on the translation to English, though, I’m not really sure I understand what I said. (Note to self. Tontina is not a good name in Spanish.)
2021
October
–
Land of Ferdinand and Isabel
Of all the historical archives I have visited, by far the most visually impressive was the Royal Library of El Escorial, located within the San Lorenzo de El Escorial Monastery, founded by King Philip II in the 16th century, near Madrid, Spain. Very impressive. (Sorry England and Scotland, Spain beat you on this one.)
2021
November
–
My Very First IMDB Entry
In what is likely the largest collection of academic economists and finance professors in a Hollywood production, I explained how “annuities” have been used to finance “decumulation” for centuries and quite possibly millennia. Sadly, and despite my strong performance, we weren’t nominated for any Oscars. Oh, well, there is always next time.
2022
May
–
Tontines for Sale
As part of my global tour of tontines, I came across The Tontine Hotel in the “Heart” of Peebles in Scotland. It was actually for sale, and I decided to check out the real estate. I thought to myself, “Why not diversify with a hotel?” Though, I decided not to invest, mostly because I didn’t like the price, or the name.
2022
August
–
Tontines Resurrected in Canada
I helped Guardian Capital launch the first modern tontine fund in Canada. The initial publicity wasn’t great, it didn’t sell very well, but I certainly learned a lot — and had a lot of fun, honestly. The truth is, the real genius behind the project was Barry Gordon (on the right). I was just along for the ride (on the left).
2022
November
–
MSc with Distinction in Edinburgh
During COVID I went back to graduate school (remotely) in the School of History, Classics and Archeology. Two years later, in November 2022, I graduated from the University of Edinburgh and was awarded an MSc in History with distinction. My MSc was expanded and then published as a monograph by Palgrave MacMillan.
2024
September
–
Some Papers Can Take Forever, to Write
In what is likely the longest I waited to complete a paper, this one with my lifelong friend and co-author Jan Dhaene, took the longest. We started the project (yes) over 25 years ago, when I was visiting the University of Leuven, in Belgium. Over time, the work and ideas changed many times, but we finally got it done here in Zimbabwe, Africa. (Long story…)
2024
November
–
Religious Matters
My patient co-author sub-commander Marcos, and I, finally managed to get this article “Pensions and Protestants” published in the Annals of Actuarial Science. It is an imprint of the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and quite obviously the main ‘go to’ outlet for ecclesiastical historians & experts in religious studies for cutting-edge research (ok, maybe not, but I really like this one…).
2025
January
–
Back to the University of Edinburgh
As I approach my sixtieth birthday (chronologically, not biologically), I have decided to go back to school, this time for a PhD in Intellectual History. Here I am with my fellow graduate students at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. Yes, it can be weird being a student again. But stay tuned for my dissertation and next book. It will be a while. History takes time. Topic Hint: Do you know how to calculate anno mundi?
