Mr. Wagner is a Senior Advisor in Houlihan Lokey’s Financial and Valuation Advisory business, focusing on technology enablement and data forward initiatives for clients and the practice. His work includes leadership of the Houlihan Lokey proprietary credit index, large-scale digital delivery of valuation data, and valuation of or advisory services for digital assets. Mr. Wagner has four decades of experience in financial markets, the majority of that time working in complex derivatives, investment banking, and management of financial markets businesses. He is based in the firm’s New York office.
In addition, Mr. Wagner serves Financial and Valuation Advisory as a published thought leader and on industry standards organizations. He completed multi-year assignments advising clients with the LIBOR transition and is currently providing liquidity and risk analysis for bespoke financings.
Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Wagner held several positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland, including on the U.S. management team, the Board of RBS Securities Inc., the Board of Tradeweb, and as the RBS representative to the Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC). He served on the ARRC from its inception in 2014 through 2018 and directly participated in the creation and selection of SOFR as the replacement for USD LIBOR.
As an RBS Markets Senior Manager, Mr. Wagner executed strategic transformations; conversion from a U.S. branch to a U.S. representative office, including all the systems, operational, risk, regulatory, and funding implications of that change; hybrid outsourcing and offshoring of securities processing technology and operations; conversions of local risk engines to global integration; and upgrading machine-based electronic trading systems. In two decades as a Managing Director in complex derivatives, he structured and execute dalmost 1,000 transactions in interest rate, option, credit, and funding risk books across all major fixed-income classes.
Mr. Wagner is also on the Adjunct Faculty of Fordham University, where he teaches a course in traded credit products and mentors students and early-stage professionals in financial markets careers.
Mr. Wagner holds a B.A. in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and an MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.