Michael is available for hire
Hire MichaelMichael Farrell
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Location
New York, NY, United States
Toptal Member Since
February 1, 2019
A CFA charter holder, Michael is a fixed income trader and portfolio manager who oversaw a $10+ billion portfolio. With a strong background in financial modeling and analysis, he has helped build the loan book of an education lending startup ($10 million in capital). He has worked with large firms with more than $100 billion in assets and early-stage firms and joined Toptal to help clients of all sizes steer through challenges in business growth.
Career Highlights
Vice President
FARR Education LLC
Vice President
Annaly Capital Management
Education Highlights
Bachelor's Degree
Wake Forest University
Certification Highlights
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
Industry Expertise
Software Expertise
Other Expertise
Work Experience
Vice President
2017 - PRESENT
FARR Education LLC
- Built dynamic financial model to track IRRs, interest payments and expenses for portfolio investments.
- Prepared due diligence on potential new deals and review due diligence on existing deals annually. Potential investments included first mortgages, subordinated debt, and lines of credit.
- Provided financial consulting services to existing clients to help prepare them for future growth. Services include FP&A and internal process reviews.
- Assisted in new client acquisition and harvest potential new deals.
- Prepared financial statements for internal use.
Focus areas: Interest Rate Risk, Risk, Risk Analysis, Credit Analysis, Credit Investing, Credit Risk, Value Creation, Value Investing, Asset-based Finance, Fixed Asset Lending, Asset-based Lending, Finance, Real Estate, Financial Modeling, Financial Reporting, Performance Management, Internal Financial Reporting, Finance Strategy, Due Diligence, Portfolio Analysis, Investment Portfolio Management, Debt Raises, Debt Workouts, Debt Restructuring, Subordinated Debt, Equity Financing, Project Finance, Corporate Finance
Vice President
2015 - 2017
Annaly Capital Management
- Traded short duration Agency mortgage-based securities (MBS) portfolio - primarily 15-year MBS, 20-year MBS and adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) MBS. Size of portfolio ranged from $15-30 billion.
- Modeled different forward earnings scenarios given changes in portfolio and market conditions. Projections fed directly into portfolio decision making progress.
- Oversaw and managed the acquisition of a similar company that primarily invested in Agency ARM MBS. Required individual pricing of over $11 billion in market value and thousands of securities.
- Back-tested prepayment model versus previous interest rate market moves and tuned to better mirror realistic scenarios.
- Prepared documentation for quarterly financial reporting.
Focus areas: Interest Rate Swaps, Interest Rate Risk, RiskMetrics, Risk Analysis, Risk, Transaction Modeling, Risk Models, Financial System Implementation, Financial Systems, DCF Valuation, Valuation Multiples, Valuation Modeling, Mortgage REITs, Asset-backed Securities (ABS), Asset Liability Management (ALM), Asset Acquisition, Asset Valuation, Value Investing, Valuation, Financial Modeling, Corporate Finance, Fixed Income Analysis, Investment Return Scenario Analysis, Performance Management, Internal Financial Reporting, Investment Portfolio Management, Portfolio Analysis, Interest Rate Trading, Fixed-income Derivatives, Investments, Finance Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Associate
2013 - 2015
Annaly Capital Management
- Traded interest rate swaps, swaptions, and US Treasury futures for hedging an Agency MBS portfolio. Helped prepare the hedge portfolio through the transition to an exchange-traded product from an OTC product.
- Oversaw portfolio management for a short duration Agency MBS fund. Portfolio consisted of Agency collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) Floaters, Agency ARM MBS, and Agency Fixed MBS.
- Tuned and monitored the prepayment model used for the Agency MBS portfolio. Required daily checks for reasonableness given market changes and portfolio holding changes.
- Monitored and reported on projected income and trading performance resulting from Agency MBS Dollar Roll trades using internal data and marketplace performance data.
- Prepared documentation for quarterly financial reporting.
Focus areas: Interest Rate Swaps, RiskMetrics, Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Risk Analysis, Risk Models, Financial Systems, Financial System Implementation, Mortgage REITs, Asset Liability Management (ALM), Asset-backed Securities (ABS), Asset Acquisition, Asset Valuation, Value Investing, Financial Modeling, Internal Financial Reporting, Performance Management, Interest Rate Trading, Fixed-income Derivatives, Investment Portfolio Management, Portfolio Analysis, Fixed Income Analysis
Analyst
2010 - 2012
Annaly Capital Management
- Assisted in daily security selection for an Agency MBS portfolio by canvassing available inventories for new purchases. Built relationships across trading desks at all major investment banks.
- Identified and sold under-performing bonds held in current portfolio using relative value analysis. Bonds were normally sold in competition - a process that requires exactness and timely execution.
- Automated portfolio management tools by incorporating straight through processing across all internal software systems. Trade entry time was reduced drastically.
- Prepared materials for quarterly financial reporting.
- Assisted in trade entry and confirmation for senior traders.
Focus areas: Risk Analysis, Risk Models, Risk, Value Investing, Asset Liability Management (ALM), Asset Valuation, Asset Acquisition, Mortgage REITs, Performance Management, Internal Financial Reporting, Portfolio Analysis, Interest Rate Trading, Fixed Income Analysis, Investment Portfolio Management
Education
2006 - 2010
Bachelor's Degree in Finance
Wake Forest University - Winston-Salem, NC
Certifications
AUGUST 2017 - PRESENT
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
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