William Cunningham

William Cunningham is a highly accomplished investment manager and market strategist with extensive experience in the financial industry. He served as the Head of Credit Portfolio Management, Research, and Trading at Nationwide Insurance from 2013 to 2021, a role he held for 8 years.1

Key Responsibilities and Achievements

In his position at Nationwide Insurance, Cunningham:

• Led a 30-person team responsible for managing a $70 billion credit investment portfolio for general account and third-party clients.1
• Oversaw portfolio management, research, and trading of high-grade and high-yield corporate bonds, leveraged loans, and municipal securities.1
• Delivered strong excess returns and re-engineered the investment process to improve culture and performance.1
• Co-managed middle market lending efforts and initiated the incorporation of an ESG framework into the investment process.1
• Developed a business plan and hired a team to build internal Emerging Markets debt management capability.1
• Increased team diversity by more than 200% to over 30% of the team.1

Previous Experience

Before joining Nationwide Insurance, Cunningham held several other notable positions:

• Senior Managing Director and Head of Global Active Fixed Income and FI Research at State Street Global Advisors (2006-2011).1
• Chief Investment Officer at BreakAway Capital Advisors (2004-2006).1
• Managing Director and Director of North American Credit Strategy at JPMorgan Securities Corporation (2000-2003).1
• Director of Corporate Bond Strategy at Merrill Lynch (1997-2000).1
• Senior Portfolio Manager at Neuberger Berman (1993-1997).1

Education

William Cunningham holds the following degrees:

• Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Brown University.1
• Master of Business Administration in Finance from Columbia University - Columbia Business School.1

William Cunningham is known for his exceptional leadership skills, ability to turn around teams, and his results-driven approach to investment management. His extensive experience across various financial institutions has made him a respected figure in the credit and fixed income investment sector.