Rusty Guinn

Rusty Guinn

Co-Founder and CEO

 @WRGuinn

Rusty Guinn is co-Founder and CEO of Second Foundation Partners, LLC, and has been a contributing author to Epsilon Theory since 2017.

Before Ben and Rusty established Second Foundation, Rusty served in a variety of investment roles in several organizations. He managed and operated a $10+ billion investment business, led investment strategy for the second largest wealth management franchise in Houston, and sat on the management committee of the 6th largest public pension fund in the United States.

Most recently, Rusty was Executive Vice President over the retail and institutional asset management businesses at Salient Partners in Houston, Texas. There he oversaw the 5-year restructuring and transition of Salient’s $10 billion money management business from legacy fund-of-funds products to a dedicated real assets franchise.

He previously served as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Opportunistic Investments at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a $12 billion portfolio spanning public and private investments. Rusty also served as a portfolio manager for TRS’s externally managed global macro hedge fund and long-only equity portfolios. He led diligence, process development and the allocation of billions of dollars across a wide range of indirect and principal investments.

Rusty’s career also includes roles with de Guardiola Advisors, an investment bank serving the asset management industry, and Asset Management Finance, a specialized private equity investor in asset management companies.

He is a graduate of the Wharton School, and lives on a farm in Fairfield, Connecticut with wife Pam and sons Winston and Harry. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Houston Youth Symphony, and with Pam has been a long-time supporter and founding Friend of the Houston Shakespeare Festival. He plays guitar and drums on the worship team at his church in Connecticut, and dabbles in cooking, whisky, progressive rock and beating Ben at trivia.

Articles by Rusty:

Central Bank Omnipotence Monitor – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Central Bank Omnipotence Monitor – 6.30.2019

Access the Powerpoint slides of this month’s ET Pro monitors here. Access the PDF version of the ET Pro monitor slides here. Access the underlying Excel data here.…

Inflation Monitor – 6.30.2019

By Rusty Guinn | July 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Inflation Monitor – 6.30.2019

Access the Powerpoint slides of this month’s ET Pro monitors here. Access the PDF version of the ET Pro monitor slides here. Access the underlying Excel data here.…

ET Pack Gathering #1 – Northeast US

By Rusty Guinn | July 3, 2019 | 1 Comment

It’s the Pack Gathering, a small conclave of like-minded people interested in talking ideas and enjoying good, genuine company.

The first event will take place in our headquarters town of Fairfield, Connecticut. New England and Mid-Atlantic, this is your event.

Life in the Gyre

By Rusty Guinn | July 2, 2019 | 12 Comments

I was mad, and I was going to write an article about what had made me mad.

Except I was wrong. And the truth about what is happening in media should be much more concerning. It is seductive in ways that will make it difficult to resist for anyone who hasn’t decided to pay attention to those who would tell us what the crowd thinks the crowd thinks.

The Solution To The Fintech IPO Shortage

By Rusty Guinn | July 1, 2019 | 0 Comments

There’s a Narrative that exists in Fintech that isn’t really present in most other early stage technology businesses. It defines why they’re different, who succeeds and who fails at getting to a liquidity event and a long-term growth trajectory.

ET Election Index: The First Debate, Part 2

By Rusty Guinn | June 28, 2019 | 4 Comments

In which we call the Prime Minister of New Zealand, see emerging narratives about identity everywhere, leave issues and policies behind, and are told that the torch is being passed from old, heterosexual white men.

Narrative Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry

By Rusty Guinn | June 27, 2019 | 1 Comment

Missionary activity isn’t always intended to mislead. But when it is, it is almost always aided by another sociopathic tendency – the complete unwillingness to admit error. What’s worse – we are practically designed to empower it.

ET Election Index: The First Debate

By Rusty Guinn | June 27, 2019 | 0 Comments

We discuss the narratives emerging in media from the first debate, from eye rolls to Spanish lessons, and from an economy that “doesn’t work for everyone” to language of equality and human rights.

We Didn’t Say it WASN’T a Press Release

By Rusty Guinn | June 24, 2019 | 3 Comments

It isn’t just that cannabis always seems to make the top of the Zeitgeist. It’s why – and sometimes the answer is, “Because people are paying for it to be at the top.”

The ANDs of Asylum

By Rusty Guinn | June 23, 2019 | 1 Comment

In the midst of a complicated issue, an article from a small regional outlet manages to remind us of the power of AND in storytelling and connecting the understanding of those across the Widening Gyre.