We have a fundamental, bedrock view that our people are everything. It's not surprising that since our firm's inception we have had a purposeful philosophy about our hiring and culture.
We seek to hire extraordinary people, but slowly. Recruiting at Stone Ridge requires candidates to go through a minimum of 15-20 one-hour interviews. Because actions speak louder than words, each candidate must complete and present a challenging final project. Many successful candidates report having spent a solid week preparing their projects. The bar to join Stone Ridge is exceptionally high, and we are not in a rush.
We intentionally have off-market policies. For example, we don’t meter vacation, and we encourage a lot of it. We offer unlimited maternity and paternity leave and strongly encourage people to take lots of time off to enjoy that magical time with their family. Stone Ridge also pays for any self-improvement program any employee wants to enroll in.
When we recruit, we recruit for uncorrelated weirdness. We first accept the fact that we are all quite weird in our own idiosyncratic ways. We then seek others who are weird in concretely different ways than the folks already working at the firm. When a recruit finally makes it through and shows up, we tell them, “no matter what you do, do not try to fit in. Because the opposite of fitting in is belonging, and to really contribute, we need you to belong.”
Belonging does not require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are. Our senior management is intentional in helping everyone feel like they belong at the firm, because if they work here, they do. To make a truly original contribution, you have to be irrationally obsessed with something for an extended period of time. And staying irrationally obsessed, especially because we never know if success is on the other side, requires a feeling of deep safety that only comes from feeling true belonging. Imagine an entire firm feeling like they truly belong? That’s powerful.
We do not ask employees “what can you do for Stone Ridge?” Instead, we ask “what can Stone Ridge do for you?” How can we accelerate your career? How can we give you a platform to shine? Our senior management's most important leadership task is to help already exceptional and ambitious people realize that they are far more talented, far more capable, and far more responsible than even they themselves believed prior to joining the firm.
We expect employees to be the best in the industry at what they do, regardless of their role at the firm, no matter how senior or junior they are, whether they help the front of the house or the back of the house. The bargain we have with each employee when they are recruited, and when they show up, is this: you get to work here, but you must be the best in the industry at what you do. And if you’re not – yet – that’s ok. Very few of us are. But you must want to be the best, and actually be on the path to getting there.
Paul Germain is the President of Stone Ridge Asset Management. Prior to joining Stone Ridge, Paul served as the Global Head of Prime Services at Credit Suisse. Paul was previously a Partner at Goldman Sachs and Co-Head of the US Client Franchise in Prime Brokerage. Paul earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and BSE in Management from University of Pennsylvania (Wharton).
Jim Rothwell is the Chief Administrative Officer and the Head of Legal at Stone Ridge. Prior to joining Stone Ridge, Jim was a partner in the Securities and Equity Derivatives Group at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Jim holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University.
Mike Sapnar is the Global Head of Insurance Solutions at Stone Ridge Asset Management. Prior to joining Stone Ridge, Mike served as the President and CEO of Transatlantic Reinsurance for nearly 10 years and held various positions domestically and internationally during his 26-year tenure. He started his career at Continental Insurance. Mike has served as Chairman of the RAA and BRMA and as a Director of Pillar Capital Holdings. He is currently a Trustee for The William & Mary Foundation. Mike holds a BA in Economics from the College of William & Mary and earned an MBA in Finance from New York University.
Ross Stevens founded Stone Ridge in 2012, and serves as Chief Executive Officer. Ross founded the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) in 2017, and serves as its Executive Chairman. Ross started his career at Goldman Sachs after receiving his PhD in Finance and Statistics from the University of Chicago (Booth) and his BSE in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton). Ross founded and serves as the Advisory Board Chairman of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton).
Tomer Seifan is the Head of Structured Investments at Stone Ridge. Prior to joining Stone Ridge, Tomer was the Head of Structuring and Solutions for Global Markets in the Americas at BNP Paribas. Previously, Tomer led a variety of structuring and structured product groups at both BNP Paribas and Bank of America. Tomer started his career in the Financial Institutions Group at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Tomer received his JD from Georgetown University and his BA from Yale University.
Yan Zhao is a co-founder of Stone Ridge, the President of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, and serves on the Stone Ridge Asset Management Investment Committee. Yan has held a variety of leadership roles at Stone Ridge, including President of NYDIG, CEO of Flourish, and Head of Reinsurance. Prior to Stone Ridge, Yan worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Morgan Stanley. Yan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Harvard University.
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