CEO of a global investment management firm
Achievements

CEO of a global investment management firm

John Koudounis is the CEO of a global investment management firm, “Calamos Investments”. Prior to this position, he has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of “Mizuho Securities USA”, a subsidiary of “Mizuho Financial Group”, one of the world’s largest full-service financial institutions.

J. Koudounis was raised in Chicago of the United States. He went to Niles West High school in Illinois from 1980 till 1984 and continued his studies in Brown University where he double majored in International Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs and Economics.

After his graduation in 1988, J. Koudounis began working with “Merrill Lynch” in the finance division. It is worth mentioning that only nine undergrads are chosen worldwide for this position and are appointed directly as associates. He left the company in 1993 as Vice President.

In 1996 he worked in “ABN AMRO Inc.” as the Managing Director. There he was the head of Fixed Income Trading and Sales for ABN Amro North America division. He had this position for twelve years and left in 2008.

Koudounis later became the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of “Mizuho Securities USA”, the US investment banking subsidiary of “Mizuho Securities”. From 2009 he was a member in the board of Directors as well as Chairman of the Management Committee, Chairman of the Risk Committee and Chairman of the New Products Committee.

Under his leadership, the firm grew in profitability, number of clients and product diversification, allowing Mizuho to be considered globally as a top tier investment bank.

In 2012 he became a member of the Board of Directors of The Hellenic Initiative, a charitable foundation that is a global, non-profit, non-governmental secular institution with the goal of developing sustainable economic and business improvement programs to empower the Greek people toward long-term prosperity. J. Koudounis also became a member of the Board of Directors at The National Hellenic Museum the same year.

In March 2016, J. Koudounis left “Mizuho Securities” and become the new CEO of “Calamos Investments”. “Calamos Investments” is a diversified global investment firm offering innovative investment strategies including U.S. growth equity, global equity, convertible, multi-asset and alternatives. His goal is to plan the firm’s growth strategy and to expand the firm’s global footprint. He oversees the firm’s day-to-day operations, fiscal function and overall performance.

John Koudounis is a public speaker and appears frequently on financial news programs including CNN, Fox Business, CNBC, Bloomberg TV and others. He is also a member of the Leadership Council at Concordia and Bretton Woods.

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