Tracy V. Maitland, a Black investment professional who graduated from Columbia University in 1982, has worked in convertible securities for his entire career. He entered Columbia in 1978 intending to study medicine, a plan he abandoned with a plain explanation: he did not like blood or diseases. Finance took its place. After thirteen years at Merrill Lynch, where he was a director in the convertible securities department of the capital markets division and built the firm's convertible sales into one of its most successful areas, he left in 1995 and founded Advent Capital Management in 1996. The Hedge Fund Journal marked the firm's 20th anniversary by crediting its founding directly to his years in Merrill Lynch's convertible securities department.
Convertible securities are bonds that holders can exchange for shares of the issuing company under set conditions. The instruments combine features of bonds and stocks, and managing them requires reading both markets. Advent, a New York-based firm, specializes in them. Its vehicles include the Advent Convertible and Income Fund, a closed-end fund, alongside exchange-traded strategies. Maitland serves as the firm's president and chief investment officer, advising institutions on the role of convertibles in their fixed-income and equity portfolios.
He has also shared what he knows with students entering the field. Advent describes his connection to Columbia University, his alma mater, and his mentoring of Columbia students interested in finance. With co-authors, he wrote the book Convertible Securities, drawing on the same thirteen years at Merrill Lynch that later inspired his own firm. More than forty years after graduating from Columbia, he is still working in the one market where he started.
