Yale School of Management - Alumni Leaders

"Yale’s School of Management has had a profound effect on my professional career. My classmates have always inspired me with the unique career paths they often pursue and the creativity and enthusiasm with which they approach their professional challenges. As they continue to lead their organizations and achieve ever-greater accomplishments, I’ve learned from their successes and I’ve been energized to take our company up to the next level.

The elevated business perspective of the School and its faculty has led me to utilize managerial and technical skills to build not only a professional practice, but a company that has changed the way our industry serves its clientele. In that regard, Yale’s influence continues to be indelibly etched into my company’s initiatives, whether they’re our cultivation of a new market for derivative financial products, or the creation of our Charitable Campaign and the selection of programs that we support."

Edward J. De La Rosa established De La Rosa & Co. in 1989. During the past 19 years, the firm has become one of the Golden State’s leading underwriters of municipal bonds. De La Rosa is also one of California’s most active sales and trading desks for fixed income and variable rate securities.

Mr. De La Rosa began his career in 1983 as a public finance banker in California. He was the architect of De La Rosa & Co.’s initial focus on public and private infrastructure projects for cities throughout California. He has since expanded the firm’s practice to include larger entities, such as the State of California, counties, transportation authorities, regional utilities, and nonprofit organizations.

Commensurate with the firm’s growth in investment banking, Mr. De La Rosa spearheaded the firm’s investment in sales and trading. De La Rosa & Co. is now one of the dominant fixed-income broker-dealers in California. The firm trades municipal bonds, U.S. Treasuries and Agency Securities, corporate debt instruments, and collateralized debt & mortgage obligations. De La Rosa & Co. executes about $500 million of fixed income trades annually and serves as remarketing agent or dealer for a $2.7-billion portfolio of short-term securities. The firm is one of the few such brokerdealers headquartered in California.

Mr. De La Rosa has taken several steps to integrate of the firm’s trading expertise and infrastructure with its knowledge of municipal credit, economic development, and real estate in California and the West. In 2008 he established De La Rosa & Co.’s asset management business to achieve this goal. The firm’s asset management business is focused on higher-yielding, tax-exempt, fixed-income securities, and real estate-related debt instruments.

Mr. De La Rosa believes in high-quality service and a high level of business ethics. He served two terms on the Professional Qualifications Advisory Committee of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, where he set professional standards for investment bankers and bond brokers financing private and public projects. He also served two terms as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California Public Securities Association.

Mr. De La Rosa leads his firm’s corporate citizenship program. He founded the E. J. De La Rosa & Co. Charitable Campaign to support scholarships, healthcare services, and other programs in California’s diverse communities.

Mr. De La Rosa holds a master’s degree from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego. He serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for the Yale School of Management where he was awarded the Dean’s Alumni Achievement Award in 2004.