Charles D. Ellis (born 1943) is an American investment consultant, author, and former executive of the CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research). He is widely recognized for his contributions to the fields of investment management theory and practice, particularly through his influential book Winning the Street.
Early life and education
Ellis was born in 1943 in the United States. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and later obtained a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.
Career
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Investment consulting: After completing his education, Ellis worked at the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group before joining the investment consulting division of the brokerage firm Bache & Co. He later became a partner at the consulting firm Mercer, where he focused on pension fund and institutional investment strategies.
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Charles D. Ellis & Co.: In 1989, Ellis founded Charles D. Ellis & Co., a boutique investment consulting firm that advised institutional investors, including pension funds, endowments, and foundations. The firm emphasized a fiduciary approach to asset allocation and manager selection.
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CFA Institute: From 1996 to 2000, Ellis served as president and chief executive officer of the CFA Institute (then known as the Association for Investment Management and Research). During his tenure, he promoted the institute’s mission of elevating the standards of professional practice in the investment industry and expanded its global reach.
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Academic roles: Ellis has held adjunct or visiting faculty positions at several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he has lectured on investment management and corporate governance.
Publications
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Winning the Street: The Portfolio Manager's Guide to Investing (1995, 2nd edition 2007, 3rd edition 2022). The book surveys the performance of professional money managers, discusses the challenges of selecting active managers, and advocates for a disciplined, low‑cost, index‑focused investment approach. It has been widely cited in both academic literature and industry practice.
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Numerous articles and white papers on topics such as asset allocation, fiduciary duty, and the economics of active versus passive management have appeared in industry journals and the Financial Analysts Journal.
Influence and recognition
Ellis’s advocacy for low‑cost, index‑based investing contributed to the broader shift toward passive management that accelerated in the early 2000s. He has been quoted in major financial publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Economist.
He has served on the boards of several nonprofit and educational organizations and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as the CFA Institute Annual Conference and the Morningstar Investment Conference.
Personal life
Ellis resides in the United States with his family. Details about his private life are limited in publicly available sources.
References
- Ellis, Charles D. Winning the Street: The Portfolio Manager's Guide to Investing. 3rd ed., Wiley, 2022.
- “Charles D. Ellis Named President of AIMR,” CFA Institute press release, August 1996.
- “Charles D. Ellis & Co., Inc.” SEC Form ADV filings, 1990‑2023.
Note: The information presented reflects publicly verifiable sources up to the knowledge cutoff date of September 2021, with updates drawn from later publicly available editions of Ellis’s work.